DG  811   -G7513  1911  V.3 
Grisar,  Hartmann,  1845-19J^ 
History  of  Rome  and  the 
popes  in  the  middle  ages 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/historyofromepop03gris 


HISTORY  OF  ROME  AND  THE  POPES 
IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


£tf)tl  ©bstat 

Sti.  Ludovici,  Die  10  /unit  191 2. 

JOSEPHUS  WENTKER, 

Censor  Librorum. 

Imprimatur. 

Sti.  Ludovici,  Die  12  Junii  191 2. 

JOANNES  J.  GLENNON, 

Archiepiscopus  Sti.  Ludovici. 


HISTORY 
OF  ROME  AND  THE  POPES 
IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


BY 

HARTMANN    GRISAR,  SJ. 

Professor  at  the  University  of  Innsbruck 


AUTHORISED  ENGLISH  TRANSLATION 

EDITED  BY 

LUIGI  CAPPADELTA 


VOLUME  III 


LONDON 

KEGAN  PAUL,  TRENCH,  TRUBNER  &  CO.  L™ 

BROADWAY  HOUSE,  CARTER  LANE,  E.C 
1912 


The  rights  of  translation  and  of  reproduction  are  reserved 


Printed  by  Ballantyne,  Hanson  6*  Co. 
At  the  Ballantyne  Press,  Edinburgh 


CONTENTS 


ROME  AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  ANCIENT 
WORLD — continued 

III.— ROME,  BYZANTIUM,  AND  THE  OSTROGOTHS  AT 
THE  TIME  OF  THE  REVIVAL  OF  THE  EMPIRE 
IN  ITALY— continued 

CHAPTER  II.— MONASTICISM  AND  THE  HOLY  SEE  (No.  361-370). 

The  Monasteries  before  the  time  of  Benedict:  The  Monks  of  the  West,  p.  3. 
St.  Augustine  of  Hippo,  p.  4.  St.  Jerome  and  the  earliest  Roman  monas- 
teries, p.  5.  Consecrated  virgins,  p.  6.  Fulgentius ;  the  Popes  and  the 
monasteries,  p.  8.  Disorderly  monks,  p.  9.  Basil,  Rufinus,  and  Cassian, 
p.  10.    Csesarius  of  Aries,  p.  11.    St.  Benedict,  p.  12. 

Subiaco  and  Monte  Cassino  in  the  History  of  Rome  and  St.  Benedict : 

Benedict  seeks  solitude,  p.  13.  Retires  to  Nero's  Villa  at  Subiaco,  p.  14. 
Removes  to  Monte  Cassino,  p.  15.  Heathen  associations  of  the  locality, 
p.  16.    The  Benedictine  Rule,  p.  18. 

The  Rule  of  St,  Benedict,  and  the  Popes :  Their  preference  for  this  Rule,  p.  21. 
Rule  furthered  by  Gregory  the  Great,  p.  22.  The  streams  of  postulants, 
P-  23- 

CHAPTER  III.— POPE  VIGILIUS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE,  AND  THE 
EMPEROR  JUSTINIAN  (No.  371-376). 

Vigilius  at  Court:  The  Pope's  reception,  p.  25.  His  first  act  of  weakness,  p.  26. 
Arguments  for  and  against  the  Three  Chapters,  p.  27.  Judicatum  causes 
an  outcry  and  is  accordingly  revoked,  p.  28.  Vigilius  is  mishandled,  p.  29. 
Escapes  to  Chalcedon,  p.  30.  Council  of  Constantinople,  p.  31.  Vigilius 
again  changes  his  mind,  p.  32.  Gratification  of  Justinian;  his  enactment 
for  Italy,  p.  33.    Death  of  Vigilius,  p.  34. 

CHAPTER  IV.  —  POPE  PELAGIUS  I.  AND  ROME  AFTER  THE 
THREE-CHAPTERS  CONTROVERSY  AND  THE  GOTHIC  WAR 
(No.  377-39°)- 

Pelagius  I.  and  the  Friends  of  the  Three  Chapters:  Mareas  the  priest,  p.  35. 
Elevation  of  Pelagius,  p.  36.    Difficulties  caused  by  Pelagius's  change  of 


vi 


CONTENTS 


attitude,  p.  37.  His  protestations,  p.  38.  Communion  with  him  refused 
in  Italy,  p.  39.    And  in  Gaul,  p.  40. 

Italy  and  Rome  after  the  Gothic  War :  Sad  state  of  the  country,  p.  43. 
Leutharis  and  Butilin,  p.  44.  Desolation  of  the  Roman  Campagna,  p.  45. 
Last  record  of  the  Roman  Senate,  p.  46.  Byzantine  mismanagement, 
p.  47.    The  Bridge  over  the  Anio,  p.  48. 

The  Pragmatic  Sanction  for  Italy. — Growth  in  the  Influence  of  the  Bishops 
and  Pope :  What  the  Pragmatica  enacted,  p.  49.  Standard  weights,  p.  ci. 
The  Pope's  efforts  to  improve  affairs,  p.  53.    The  Patrimonies,  p.  54. 

Pope  John  III.  (since  561) :  His  election,  and  the  imperial  ratification,  p.  56. 

IV.— ROME  UNDER  NARSES  AND  IN  THE  EARLY 
PERIOD  OF  THE  EXARCHATE. 

CHAPTER  I.  — THE  POPES  AND  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  ITALY 
AND  ROME  (No.  391-394). 

A  Glance  at  Events:  John  III.  (561-574),  Benedict  I.  (575-579). ar)d  Pelagius  II. 
(579-590),  p.  61.  The  successors  of  Justinian,  p.  62.  A  list  of  the 
Exarchs  of  Italy,  p.  63. 

The  Administration  of  Italy  and  Rome:  Legal  position  of  the  Exarch,  p.  65. 
The  Praefectus  Praetorio  and  Praefectus  Urbi,  p.  66. 

CHAPTER  II.— THE  CHRISTIAN  PALATINE  (No.  395-398). 

The  residence  of  Narses,  p.  69.  The  mock-crucifix,  p.  71.  The  churches: 
S.  Anastasia,  S.  Maria  Antiqua,  p.  72.  St.  Theodore,  p.  73.  S.  Cassarius 
in  Palatio,  p.  74.    Christian  lamps  from  the  Palatine,  p.  75. 

CHAPTER  III.— GREEK  COLONIES  IN  AND  NEAR  ROME 

(No.  399-408). 

From  Aquae  Salviae  (Tre  Fontane)  to  the  Schola  Graeca :  Narses's  foundation 
at  St.  Paul's  place  of  martyrdom,  p.  78.  Traditions  of  the  spot,  p.  79. 
The  place  peculiarly  Greek,  p.  81.  Greek  reminiscences  near  St.  Paul's, 
p.  82.  Church  of  St.  Menas,  p.  83.  St.  Saba's,  p.  84.  The  Schola 
Graeca,  S.  Anastasia  and  S.  Teodoro,  p.  85. 

The  Church  of  SS.  Philip  and  James  as  a  Memorial  of  the  Re-establishment 
of  Byzantine  Rule :  The  church  a  foundation  of  Narses,  p.  86.  Its  first 
origin  under  Julius  I.,  p.  87.  Re-modelled  on  the  church  of  the  Apostles 
at  Constantinople,  p.  88.  The  building  pushed  forward  by  Pope  John  III., 
p.  91.  Original  altar  of  the  church,  p.  92.  Its  relics,  p.  93.  Reliquaries, 
p.  94. 


CONTENTS 


Vll 


Consecration  of  Churches  by  the  Burial  of  Saints:  The  consecration  of  SS. 
Philip  and  James',  p.  95.  The  preparatory  vigil,  p.  96.  The  procession  of 
the  relics,  p.  97.  The  inscribing  of  the  alphabet,  p.  98.  The  deposition 
of  the  relics,  p.  99. 

CHAPTER  IV.  —  MONUMENTAL  CONTRASTS  IN  ROME  —  THE 
IMPERIAL  FORUMS  AND  THE  FLAMINIAN  WAY— CHRISTIAN 
CEMETERIES  OF  THE  BYZANTINE  PERIOD  (No.  409-433). 

Trajan's  Forum:  Retention  of  older  associations,  p.  101.  Its  position,  p.  102. 
The  Basilica  Ulpia,  p.  103.    Fate  of  the  site,  p.  105. 

Other  Imperial  Forums — The  Via  Flaminia:  The  Forum  of  Augustus,  p.  106. 
Forums  of  Julius  and  Nerva,  p.  107.  Position  of  the  Flaminian  Way, 
p.  108. 

First  Part  of  the  Via  Flaminia  within  the  City:  The  S?epta  Julia,  p.  no. 
S.  Maria  in  Via  Lata,  p.  in.  The  Catabulum  and  the  legend  of  Pope 
Marcellus,  p.  112.    The  Aqua  Virgo,  p.  113. 

A  Mithra'Cave  in  the  Seventh  Region :  The  cave  near  S.  Silvestro  in  Capite, 
p.  114.    The  Taurobolium  contrasted  with  Baptism,  p.  115. 

Second  Part  of  the  Via  Flaminia  within  the  City:  The  Column  of  Marcus 
Aurelius,  p.  117.  The  legend  of  the  Legio  Fulminata,  p.  118.  The  Arch  of 
Marcus  Aurelius,  p.  119. 

Third  Part  of  the  Via  Flaminia  within  the  City :  Augustus's  Altar  of  Peace, 
p.  120.  His  obelisk,  sun-dial,  and  mausoleum  ;  S.  Lawrence  in  Lucina, 
p.  122.    The  Temple  of  the  Sun,  p.  124. 

The  Surroundings  of  the  Flaminian  Gate:  Tomb  of  an  ancient  jockey,  p.  125. 
Nero's  tomb  and  its  spectre,  p.  126.  Position  of  the  Flaminian  Gate; 
the  view  of  the  City,  p.  127.  Impressions  of  the  northern  pilgrims  on 
entering  Rome,  p.  129. 

Processions,  Pagan  and  Christian,  on  the  Via  Flaminia :  The  Robigalia  and 
the  procession  on  St.  Mark's  Day,  p.  130. 

St.  Valentine's  Church  and  Cemetery  on  the  Flaminian  Way  —  Recent 
excavations:  Discovery  in  1888,  p.  132.  Epitaphs  found  here,  p.  135. 
The  so-called  Acts  of  St.  Valentine,  p.  136. 

Christian  Cemeteries  outside  the  Walls:  They  gradually  fall  into  disuse,  p.  137. 
Steps  taken  by  Pope  John  III.  to  provide  for  services  in  them,  p.  138. 
Provisions  made  for  the  three  chief  cemetery-basilicas  :  St.  Peter's,  St.  Paul's, 
and  St.  Lawrence's  ;  restoration  of  the  Crypt  of  St.  Cornelius,  p.  139. 


viii 


CONTENTS 


The  Catacomb  of  Praetextatus :  Abode  of  Pope  John  III.,  p.  141.  The  Pagan 
environment  of  this  cemetery,  p.  143.  Its  place  in  the  history  of  the 
Roman  Church,  p.  144. 

The  Earliest  Churchyards  within  the  City:  The  cemetery  on  the  Esquiline, 
p.  146.  The  station  at  the  Title  of  S.  Eusebio ;  the  cemetery  in  the 
Pretorian  camp,  p.  147.  The  cemeteries  near  S.  Cosimato  in  Trastevere 
and  near  the  Coliseum,  p.  148.  Peculiarities  of  the  epitaphs,  p.  149.  The 
funeral  of  the  City,  p.  150. 


CHAPTER  V.— THE  IRRUPTION  OF  THE  LOMBARDS 
INTO  ITALY  (No.  434-438). 

Inroads  of  the  Lombards:  The  heavenly  portents,  p.  151.  Narses's  supposed 
act  of  treachery,  p.  152.  The  fall  of  Milan,  p.  153.  Rome  is  spared, 
p.  154.  Pope  Benedict  I.  seeks  help  of  the  East,  p.  155.  Pope  Pelagius  II. 
does  likewise,  p.  156.  His  appeal  to  the  Franks,  p.  157.  Authari  and 
Agilulf ;  the  savagery  of  the  newcomers,  p.  158.  Outward  appearance  of 
the  Lombards,  p.  159.  Religion  of  the  Lombards;  Menas  ;  Smaragdus 
the  Exarch,  p.  160. 

CHAPTER  VI.— ROME  AND  THE  SCHISM  OF  AQUILEIA 

(No.  439-444). 

The  Schism  under  Pelagius  I.  and  Pelagius  II.:  They  vainly  endeavour  to 
conciliate  the  separatists,  p.  162.  The  two  headquarters  of  the  Schism, 
Milan  and  Aquileia;  Milan  returns  to  the  fold,  p.  164.  Obstinacy  of  the 
metropolitan  of  Grado,  p.  165.  Intervention  of  the  Exarch  Smaragdus, 
p.  167.    The  Schismatics  win  over  the  Emperor  and  gain  the  day,  p.  168. 


V.  —  PROGRESSIVE  DECLINE  OF  CIVIL  ORDER  AND 
ROMAN  CULTURE  —  SIGNS  OF  LIFE  IN  THE 
ROMAN  CHURCH. 

CHAPTER  I.— DECLINE  AND  COLLAPSE  OF  CIVIL  LIFE 

(No.  445-453)- 

Byzantium— North  Africa— Mohammed :  Helplessness  of  the  Byzantine  Em- 
pire, p.  173.  Uncertainty  of  succession  ;  Justin  I.  to  Phocas,  p.  174.  The 
Roman  North  African  provinces  fall  to  pieces,  p.  175.  Mohammedanism, 
p.  176. 


CONTENTS 


xi 


Spain  —  The  Frankish  Realms — England :  Leuvigild's  persecution  of  the 
Catholic  Spaniards,  p.  177.  Political  chaos  in  Gaul,  p.  178.  Chilperic  I. 
and  Fredegunda  two  specimens  of  royalty,  p.  179.  England's  distress 
under  Saxon  rule,  p.  182.  Columban  on  the  Second  Advent,  p.  183.  His 
regard  for  Rome,  p.  184.  General  belief  that  the  world  was  approaching  its 
end,  p.  185. 

CHAPTER  II.— THE  END  OF  ROMAN  CULTURE— CHRONICLES, 
FORGERIES,  AND  LEGENDS  (No.  454-479)- 
Authors  and  Schools:  Men  of  letters  in  the  sixth  century,  p.  187.  Southern 
Gaul  and  North  Italy  as  centres  of  scholarship,  p.  188. 

Virgil  as  Moulder  of  the  Middle  Ages :  Esteem  in  which  his  works  were  held, 
p.  189.  Poems  modelled  on  his,  p.  190.  Virgil  as  a  Pagan  prophet, 
p.  191. 

Ennodius — Fortunatus :  Studies  at  Rome,  p.  192.  Discourses  of  Ennodius, 
p.  193.  Hymns  of  Venantius  Fortunatus,  p.  194.  His  profane  composi- 
tions, p.  196.    The  Salic  Law,  p.  197. 

Compilations  and  Handbooks:  Cassiodorus  and  Dionysius  Exiguus,  p.  198.  The 
Biblical  Catenae,  Maximian  the  Tuscian,  p.  200.  Sulpicius  Severus  and 
Prudentius,  p.  201.  Influence  of  Prudentius  on  the  mediaeval  "  Moralities," 
p.  202. 

Decay  of  Historical  Work,  and  want  of  Historical  Knowledge — The  Apocrypha 
in  Art:  Loss  of  the  sense  of  history,  p.  203.  Biblical  Apocrypha,  p.  204. 
Their  use  on  the  arch  at  Sta.  Maria  Maggiore,  p.  205.  And  at  Ravenna, 
p.  207.  Poverty  of  the  Western  historians  of  the  Church,  p.  209. 1  Earliest 
collections  of  canons,  p.  211.  The  "Apostolic"  Canons  and  Constitu- 
tions ;  "  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,"  p.  212. 

The  Roman  so-called  Symmachian  Forgeries:  The  Gesta  Liberii  and  the 
legend  of  Constantine's  baptism,  p.  213.  The  Gesta  Marcellini,  p.  216. 
The  Constitutum  Silvestri,  p.  218. 

Legends  of  the  Martyrs — Martyrologies :  Acts  true  and  false,  p.  220.  Distrust 
evinced  by  the  Gelasian  Decree  and  Gregory  the  Great,  p.  221.  The  oldest 
Martyrology,  viz.  that  fathered  on  Jerome,  p.  222.  How  described  by 
Gregory  the  Great,  p.  223.  Later  additions  and  corruptions,  p.  224.  The 
present  Martyrology,  p.  225. 

The  "  Liber  Pontificalis  " — Lists  of  Popes  ;  Contents  of  the  Liber  pontificalis, 
p.  226.  Originally  compiled  under  Boniface  Hi,  p.  228.  Its  gradual 
continuation,  p.  229.  The  Felician  and  Cononian  Lists  of  the  Popes,  mere 
extracts  from  the  Liber  pontificalis  ;  antiquity  of  the  Liberian  list ;  the 
Series  episcoporum  of  Constantinople,  p.  230. 


X 


CONTENTS 


The  Better  Legends  and  Gregory  of  Tours — The  "  Gelasian  Decree  " :  St. 

Severinus,  p.  232.  Gregory  of  Tours'  history  of  the  Franks  and  his  account 
of  St.  Martin,  p.  234.    Object  and  origin  of  the  Gelasian  Decree,  p.  236. 

CHAPTER  III.— LANGUAGE  AND  ART  OF  DECLINING  ROME 

(No.  480-491). 

Vulgar  Latin — The  Church's  Language:  The  common  language  of  ancient 
Rome  not  identical  with  the  classical,  p.  239.  Rise  of  the  Romance 
languages,  p.  240.  Part  played  by  the  Itala  and  African  writers  in  the 
formation  of  Church-Latin,  p.  241.  Rhythmic  measure  in  the  Church's 
prayers,  p.  242.  Mutual  influence  of  Greek  and  Latin  ;  St.  Benedict's 
Latin,  p.  243. 

Some  Representatives  of  Latin  in  its  Decline :  Latinity  of  the  Liber  pontificalis 
and  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  p.  245.  That  of  Gregory  of  Tours,  p.  246. 
Latin  works  produced  in  the  East  :  Priscian  the  grammarian  and  Anthimus 
the  gastronomist,  p.  247.    Language  of  the  Roman  epitaphs,  p.  248. 

Last  Efforts  of  Art  in  Rome  and  Ravenna:  The  mosaic  at  Sant'  Agnese, 
p.  249.  That  in  San  Lorenzo,  p.  250.  The  columns  and  decoration  of 
this  same  church,  p.  251.  Scarcity  and  poverty  of  work  produced  in  the 
sixth  century,  p.  253.    Ravennese  works,  p.  254. 

CHAPTER  IV.— BISHOPS  AND  CLERGY  (No.  492-506). 

Some  Prominent  Italian  Bishops :  St.  Epiphanius  of  Pavia,  and  some  Bishops 
of  Central  Italy,  p.  257. 

The  Bishoprics  on  the  Via  Flaminia  and  their  Occupants:  Ocricolum, 
p.  259.    Narnia,  p.  261. 

Bishops  outside  Italy:  Frankish  Bishops,  p.  262.  Spanish  Bishops,  Nicetas 
of  Remesiana,  p.  264. 

Bible  Study:  Clerical  Labourers:  Education  of  the  Clergy,  p.  265.  Study  of 
the  Psalms  and  of  Holy  Writ,  p.  266.    Manual  labour,  p.  267. 

Abuses  among  the  Clergy:  Worldliness,  p.  269.  Monastic  misbehaviour;  a 
monk  and  a  nun,  p.  270. 

Clerical  Celibacy:  Variations  in  the  practice,  p.  271.  Reason  of  the  law  of 
continence,  p.  272.  The  Eastern  practice,  p.  273.  Cohabitation  allowed 
under  conditions  ;  some  instances  of  married  clergy,  p.  274. 

The  Ordinations:  The  dates  for  ordination,  p.  275.  Coincidence  of  the  ordi- 
nations with  the  Stations,  p.  276.  The  banns  of  ordination,  p.  277.  The 
Ordination  Service,  p.  278. 


CONTENTS 


xi 


CHAPTER  V.— SOME  PHASES  OF  ECCLESIASTICAL  LIFE 
IN  ROME  (No.  507-538). 

Christian  Counterparts  of  Pagan  Festivals — The  Ember  Days:  The  "  Col- 
lectio  "  and  the  Ludi  Apollinares,  p.  281.  The  Cara  Cognatio  and  the 
Feast  of  St.  Peter's  Chair,  Christmas  Day  and  the  festival  of  Sol  Novus, 
p.  282.    The  Pagan  Feriae  and  the  Christian  Ember-weeks,  p.  283. 

Other  Fasts  observed  in  Rome:  The  Wednesday  and  week-end  fast,  p.  287. 
Lent,  p.  288.  The  three  Sundays  previous  to  Lent,  p.  289.  The  Lenten 
Stations,  p.  290. 

The  Forecourt  of  the  Papal  Cathedral:  Outward  appearance  of  the  Lateran, 
p.  291.  The  Atrium,  p.  292.  The  public  penitents;  the  mendicants, 
p.  294.    The  Agape  in  its  final  development,  p.  295. 

Interior  of  the  Lateran  Basilica:  According  to  an  old  painting  and  the  descrip- 
tions, p.  297.  The  mosaic  of  the  apse,  p.  300.  The  pretended  miraculous 
portrait  of  Christ,  p.  302.  The  neighbourhood  of  the  altar,  p.  304.  The 
seven  small  altars,  p.  305.  The  supposed  discovery  of  the  Scala  Santa, 
p.  306. 

Votive  Offerings  —  Vows:  Their  meaning,  p.  307.  Justinian's  offering  at 
Ravenna,  p.  308.  Votive  gifts  preserved  in  Rome,  p.  309.  A  Papal  and 
an  Imperial  votive  offering,  p.  311.  The  formulary  "  Votum  Solvit"; 
Pagan  votive  offerings,  p.  312. 

The  Admission  into  the  Church  of  Converts  from  Paganism  (Initiatio 
Christiana) — Preparation  for  Baptism:  The  Scrutinies,  p.  315.  The 
first  Exorcism,  p.  316.  The  Traditio  symboli,  Aperitio  aurium,  &c, 
p.  319.    The  Ephphetha,  p.  321.    The  preliminary  unction,  p.  322. 

The  "  Great  Night  "  in  the  Lateran  :  Easter  as  the  most  appropriate  day  for  the 
bestowal  of  Baptism,  p.  323.  The  deacon's  Praeconium  and  blessing  of  the 
Paschal  Candle,  p.  325.  The  Old  Testament  "Prophecies"  and  Tracts; 
behaviour  of  the  faithful,  p.  326.  The  Lateran  Baptistery,  p.  328.  The 
blessing  of  the  font,  p.  329.  The  Baptism,  p.  330.  The  god-parents  ; 
the  baptismal  robe,  p.  331.  Confirmation,  p.  332.  The  Paschal  Mass,  and 
Communion  ;  the  milk  and  honey,  p.  333.  The  Stations  in  Easter-week, 
p.  334.    The  Christian's  birthday,  p.  335. 

CHAPTER  VI.— THE  ROMAN  PRIMACY  IN  THE  SIXTH 
CENTURY  (No.  539-545)- 

The  Oneness  of  the  Roman  Empire :  Pliny ;  the  Church  succeeds  the  State  as 
upholder  of  Roman  unity,  p.  337.  New  conception  of  the  Imperium 
Mundi,  p.  338.    Place  of  the  Empire  in  the  Church's  Liturgy,  p.  339. 


Xll 


CONTENTS 


Byzantium  and  North  Africa:  Pelagius  II.  (tS9o)  and  John  the  Faster  of 
Constantinople,  p.  342.  The  Papal  Apocrisiaries,  p.  343.  North  African 
affairs,  p.  344. 

The  Primacy  and  its  Relations  with  the  Visigoths  and  Britons:  Spanish 
Councils  and  Bishoprics,  p.  346.    The  British  Isles,  p.  347. 

CHAPTER  VII. — THE  ROMAN  SEE  AND  THE  FRANKS 

(No.  546-550). 

The  Church's  state  of  bondage ;  Frankish  Councils,  p.  349.  The  Archbishops  of 
Aries  as  Vicars  of  the  Holy  See,  p.  350.  Popes  Vigilius  and  Pelagius  I., 
p.  351.  Salunius  and  Sagittarius:  two  specimens  of  Frankish  Bishops, 
p.  352.  Prerogatives  of  the  Frankish  kings,  p.  353.  The  Eastern  Empire 
and  the  kingdom  of  the  Franks,  p.  355. 

Review  of  the  Progress  made  by  the  See  of  Rome. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


ILLUS.  PAGE 

169.  Bestowal  of  the  Veil  on  a  consecrated  Virgin    .          .          .  Facing  6 

170.  Consecrated  Virgin  with  the  Veil          .....  7 

171.  Subiaco.    Monastery  in  St.  Benedict's  Wilderness  above  Nero's 

Villa   ........  Facing  14 

172.  Monte  Cassino  and  the  Cyclopean  Wall          .          .          .  .16 

173.  St.  Benedict  on  a  Throne  in  front  of  John,  Abbot  of  Monte 

Cassino       .......  Facing  16 

174.  Dress  of  the  Monks  according  to  one  of  the  oldest  miniatures 

at  Monte  Cassino    .           .           .           .           .           .  ,,  18 

175.  Bridge  over  the  Anio  .  .  .  .  .  ,,  48 
176-177.  Roman  Stone  Weights       .          .          .                    .  -53 

178.  The  Emperor  Justinian  ......  Facing  62 

179.  Insignia  of  the  Roman  City  Prefect      .          .          .          .  -67 

180.  Plan  of  the  Imperial  Palaces  and  other  ancient  structures  on 

the  Palatine            ......  Facing  70 

181.  Imperial  Palace  of  the  Flavii  on  the  Palatine    .          .  ,,  70 

182.  The  Mock  Crucifix  of  the  Palatine       .          .          .          .  71 

183.  S.  Teodoro  Rotondo  on  the  Clivus  Victoriae  of  the  Palatine      .  Facing  73 

184.  Ancient  Terra-cotta  Lamps  from  North  Africa  .          .  ,,  76 

185.  Clay  Lamp  with  Christ  as  Conqueror  of  the  Dragon     .          .  ,,76 

186.  Oil  Vases  from  the  Tomb  of  St.  Menas,  with  the  Figure  of  the 

Saint  and  the  Monogram    .          .          .          .          .  .84 

187.  S.  Nazaro  Grande  (formerly  Church  of  the  Apostles)  at  Milan  .  .  89 

188.  Altar  of  the  Church  of  the  (XII.)  Apostles  in  Rome     .           ..  .92 

189.  Altar  Slab  of  the  Church  of  the  (XII.)  Apostles  in  Rome         .  .  92 

190.  Altar  of  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian  on  the  Roman  Forum          .  .  93 

xiii 


xiv  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

ILLUS.  PAGE 

191.  Translation  of  Relics     ......  Facing  96 

192.  Trajan's  Forum  .          .          .          .          .          .          .  ,,  102 

193.  Portion  of  Trajan's  Forum  in  its  present  state   .          .          .  ,,  104 

194.  Forum  of  Augustus  104 

195.  The  Rain  Wonder,  as  shown  on  the  Column  of  Marcus  Aurelius  ,,  118 

196.  Mausoleum  of  Augustus  ......  123 

197.  Statue  of  Augustus  from  Prima  Porta    ....  Facing  128 

198.  Mourning  Germania      .           .           .           .           .  ,,  134 

199.  Dacian  from  Trajan's  Forum     .          .          .          .          .  ,,  134 

200.  Portion  excavated  of  the  Cemetery-Basilica  of  St.  Valentine  on 

the  Via  Flaminia    .          .          .          .          .          .  ,,  134 

201.  Pope  Xystus  II.  and  Bishop  Optatus     .           .           .           .  ,,  140 

202.  Crypt  of  St.  Cornelius  in  the  Catacomb  of  Callistus     .           .  ,,  142 

203.  The  so-called  Temple  of  Deus  Rediculus  on  the  Via  Appia     .  .  143 

204.  Fresco  in  the  Catacomb  of  Prsetextatus  ....  144 

205.  Tomb  of  SS.  Felicissimus  and  Agapetus  in  the  Catacomb  of 

Praetextatus  .......  Facing  144 

206.  Specimen  of  Sixth  Century  Epigraphy.    Epitaph  from  the  Ceme- 

tery in  Mica  Aurea,  near  San  Cosimato      .  146 

207.  Specimen  of  Sixth  (Seventh?)  Century  Epigraphy.  Epitaph 

from  the  Cemetery  of  the  Coliseum           .          .          .  ,,  148 

208.  Silver  Plate  with  King  Agilulf  surrounded  by  Lombards  and 

Figures  of  Victory  .          .          .          .          .          .  ,,158 

209.  End  of  the  Sarcophagus  of  Archbishop  Theodore  in  Sant' 

Apollinare  in  Classe,  near  Ravenna           .          .          .  ,,188 

210.  Christ's  Vine     ........  196 

211.  Mary  with  the  Distaff    ......  Facing  206 

212.  Christ's  Nativity  .......  207 

213.  Christ's  Nativity  ...  ...  208 

214.  The  most  ancient  extant  List  of  Popes  ....  Facing  230 

215.  Marble   Entablature   above  Constantine's   Columns   in  San 

Lorenzo  250 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xv 

ILLUS.  PAGE 

216.  Capital  sculptured  under  Pelagius  II.  at  San  Lorenzo.  Capitals 

of  the  time  of  Theodoric  at  San  Martino  ai  Monti            .    Facing  250 

217.  Plinth  of  the  Two  Columns  erected  by  Pelagius  II.  in  San 

Lorenzo      ........  252 

218.  Tombstone  of  St.  Cassius,  Bishop  of  Narni       ....  261 

219.  The  Lateran  Basilica.    Plan     .....    Facing  292 

220.  The  Lateran  Basilica.    Interior            .           .           .                   „  298 

221.  The  Mosaic  in  the  Apse  of  the  Lateran  Basilica          .          .        ,,  300 

222.  Upper  Portion  of  the  Mosaic  of  the  Apse  in  the  Lateran  Basilica. 

Christ  as  portrayed  in  Constantine's  Time  .           .           .        ,,  302 

223.  The  Emperor  Justinian  I.  with  his  Votive  Offering       .               Facing  307 

224.  A  Portion  of  Heraclida's  Votive  Offering         ....  308 

225.  Votive  Offering  of  Zenovius      ......  309 

226.  The  Lateran  Baptistery.    Plan  ......  328 

227.  The  Lateran  Baptistery  and  Signatorium.    Section       .          .    Facing  328 

228.  Scene  of  Baptism  on  an  early  Christian  Silver  Spoon  from 

Aquileia      ........  335 


ROME  AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  ANCIENT 

WORLD 

III— ROME,  BYZANTIUM,  AND  THE  OSTRO- 
GOTHS AT  THE  TIME  OF  THE  REVIVAL 
OF  THE  EMPIRE  IN  ITALY — continued 


VOL.  III. 


A 


HISTORY  OF  ROME  AND  THE 
POPES  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


CHAPTER  II 

MONASTICISM  AND  THE  HOLY  SEE 

The  Monasteries  before  the  time  of  Benedict 

361.  At  the  time  when  Cassiodorus  established  his  colony  of 
Vivarium,  with  its  combination  of  religious  exercises  and  study, 
while  Benedict  ruled  the  monks  at  Monte  Cassino,  con- 
ventual life  had  become  popular  not  only  in  the  East,  its 
earliest  home,  but  also  in  the  West,  where,  in  many  places,  it 
thrived  exceedingly.  As  yet,  however,  no  general  rule  of  life 
was  followed  in  the  monasteries  of  the  West.  Such  a  rule 
was  evolved  by  St.  Benedict's  foundation,  and  it  was  already 
beginning  to  be  accepted  and  applied  even  in  the  lifetime  of 
Cassiodorus,  who,  however,  was  not  acquainted  with  it. 

Such  was  the  growth  of  monasticism  in  the  Church,  that 
the  tree  spread  its  manifold  branches  over  Italy,  North  Africa, 
and  Spain  ;  over  the  ancient  Provinces  of  the  Roman  Empire 
in  the  North,  and  over  the  newly  founded  States,  even  as  far 
as  Britain  and  Ireland. 

In  the  sixth  century,  in  the  monastery  of  Bangor,  on  the 
east  coast  of  Ireland,  three  thousand  monks,  supporting  them- 
selves by  manual  labour,  and,  divided  into  seven  choirs,  kept 
up  day  and  night  an  unceasing  service  of  song.  In  Gaul,  in 
the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  according  to  Sulpicius  Severus, 
a  contemporary,  no  less  than  two  thousand  monks  assembled 
for  the  funeral  of  the  great  founder  of  monasteries,  St.  Martin 
of  Tours.  In  Spain,  St.  Martin  of  Bracara  (Braga),  who 
worked  among  the  Suevi  of  Galkecia,  took  as  his  example 
the  monastic  and  apostolic  ministry  of  his  namesake  of  Tours  ; 


4 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  36i 


he  gathered  around  him  troops  of  monks,  and  with  their  help 
converted  to  Catholicism  the  local  Arian  tribes.1 

The  island  of  Lerinum,  from  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
century,  became  the  site  of  flourishing  monastic  schools,  where 
civilisation  and  learning  found  a  refuge,  and  which  served  as 
seminaries  for  the  training  of  worthy  bishops.  John  Cassian, 
whose  works  were  so  much  in  demand,  from  his  retreat  at 
Marseilles,  laboured  to  promote  asceticism  among  the  monas- 
teries of  ancient  and  more  recent  foundation.  He  did  in 
Southern  Gaul  what  had  been  done  earlier,  and  on  similar 
lines,  in  Northern  Italy  by  Eusebius  of  Vercelli  and  Ambrose 
of  Milan,  whose  enthusiasm  led  countless  persons  of  both  sexes 
to  embrace  virginity  either  in  private  retirement  or  in  the  life 
of  the  cloister. 

Augustine  watched  over  his  monasteries  at  Carthage,  Tagaste, 
and  Hippo ;  Rufinus  laboured  in  the  cause  of  monasticism  at 
Aquileia  ;  and  later,  after  a  visit  to  the  monks  of  Egypt  and 
Asia,  with  the  help  of  Urseius,  abbot  of  Pinetum,  he  intro- 
duced the  Rule  of  St.  Basil  into  many  Western  monasteries. 
Finally,  Jerome,  the  most  eloquent  champion  of  asceticism  and 
religious  vows,  was  so  successful  in  Rome,  even  in  the  highest 
circles,  that  we  hear  him  exclaiming  in  astonishment :  "  Rome 
has  become  like  Jerusalem.  How  many  convents  are  rising 
for  virgins !  Who  can  count  the  crowds  of  monks  in  the 
City  ?  Formerly  it  was  considered  a  disgrace  to  serve  God 
in  this  state ;  now  it  is  an  honour,  and  has  become  quite 
fashionable."  2 

Augustine,  who  had  visited  these  Roman  monasteries,  recalls 
them  with  pleasure.  "  I  know  many  of  them,"  he  writes,  "  as 
homes  of  saints,  where,  in  the  midst  of  brethren  who  live 
together  in  love,  piety,  and  freedom,  there  ever  presides  one 

1  The  epitaph  which  Martin  of  Braga  (Dumiensis)  composed  for  himself  alludes  to 
Martin  of  Tours  as  his  example.  De  ROSSI,  Inscr.  christ.,  2,  1,  270.  Ibid.,  p.  269,  de 
Rossi  gives  two  inscriptions  from  the  head  monastery  founded  by  Martin  in  Dumium, 
near  Braga,  and  from  the  monastic  cathedral.  The  labours  of  his  monks  among  the 
mixed  Germanic  races  of  the  locality  are  recalled  in  the  verses  :  " Immanes  variasqiee 
pio  sub  foedere  Christi  \  Adsciscis  gentcs.  Alamannus,  Saxo,  Toringus,  \  Pannonius, 
fiugus,  Sclavus,  Nara,  Sarmata,  Datus,  \  Ostrogot/ius,  Francus,  Burgimdus,  Dacus, 
Alaiius  I  Te  duce  nosse  Deum  gaudent,  tua  signa  Suevus  \  Admirans"  &c. 

2  "  Ut  .  .  .  gaudercmus,  Romam  factam  Jerusalem.  Crcbra  virginum  mo?iastcriat 
monachorum  innumcrabilis  multitude?  &c.  Ep.  \ii  ad Principiam,  c.  8.  The  ascetical 
principles  preached  by  Jerome  and  other  writers  have  been  misunderstood  by  the 
Church's  enemies.  See,  against  the  views  expressed  by  Harnack  in  Das  Wesm  des 
Christenthums,  S.  Hoveler,  Prof.  Harnack  und  die  kath.  Askese,  1902. 


No.  362] 


THE  EARLY  MONKS 


5 


distinguished  for  moral  dignity,  wisdom,  and  ecclesiastical 
learning."  1 

362.  The  history  and  gradual  development  of  monastic  life 
in  Rome  deserves  our  close  attention.  It  began  before  Augustine 
and  Jerome,  even  before  Athanasius  visited  Rome  with  his 
escort  of  Egyptian  monks.  There  is  no  proof  that  these  visitors 
to  Rome  from  the  deserts  of  the  Nile  were  the  first  to  make 
Romans  acquainted  with  the  ccenobitic  life.  From  the  remarks 
of  early  authors  the  opposite  may  be  gathered,  namely,  that 
already  before  the  fourth  decade  of  the  fourth  century,  besides 
solitary  ascetics  of  either  sex,  there  existed  in  Rome  conventual 
communities,  particularly  of  men  ;  this  manner  of  life  had  not, 
however,  as  yet  attained  popularity,  nor  was  it  followed  by 
people  of  high  rank.2 

It  is  nevertheless  true  that  the  oldest  Roman  monastery, 
of  which  we  know  the  name  and  situation,  belongs  to  a 
later  period.  It  was  founded  by  Pope  Xystus  III.  outside 
the  City  on  the  Appian  Way  ad  catammbas,  i.e.  nigh  the  tem- 
porary tomb  of  the  Apostles,  and  was  dedicated  to  St.  Sebastian. 
Through  the  discovery  of  numerous  inscriptions  we  have,  more- 
over, fairly  trustworthy  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  convent 
of  consecrated  virgins  on  the  Ager  Veranus  beside  St. 
Lawrence's  Basilica  outside  the  City.  The  Basilica  of  St. 
Agnes  seems  also  to  have  had  at  an  early  date  its  convent. 
Near  the  Tomb  of  St.  Peter  we  find  a  convent  in  the  time 
St.  Galla,  where  this  noble  Roman  matron  passed  the  days  of 
her  widowhood.  The  Liber  pontificalis  also  tells  us  that  Leo 
the  Great  founded  a  monastery  near  St.  Peter's  Tomb,  meaning 
probably  that  named  after  SS.  John  and  Paul.  At  St.  Law- 
rence's, too,  a  monastery  for  men  was  built  near  the  convent 
for  women  by  Pope  Hilary,  Leo's  successor,  who  also  erected 
another  monastery  within  the  City  at  some  spot  unknown. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that,  as  the  instances  cited  show, 
beginning  with  the  monastery  near  the  Apostles'  Tomb  on 
the   Appian,    the   early    conventual    establishments    of  Rome 

1  De  moribus  cath.  eccl.,  i,  c.  70. 

2  Cp.  E.  Spreitzenhofer,  O.S.B.,  Die  Entwicklung  des  alten  Monckthums  in 
Italicn  von  seinen  ersten  Anfangen  bis  St.  Benedikt  (Wien,  1894),  p.  5  ff.  J.  Wilpert, 
Die  gottgewei/iten  Jungfrcnten  in  den  ersten  Jahrh.  der  Kirche  (Freiburg  im  Br.,  1892). 
This  work  makes  great  use  of  the  monuments,  and  the  supplement  (p.  82  ff.),  on  the 
"  Grabschriften  von  Jungfrauen  aus  rbmischen  Katakomben?  is  of  particular  interest. 


6 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  362 


seem  all  to  have  been  attracted  to  the  burial-places  of  the 
more  famous  saints. 

Thus,  too,  the  saintly  Paulinus  of  Nola  and  Terasia,  his 
wife,  after  dedicating  themselves  to  the  religious  life,  built 
a  joint  ascetic  or  conventual  dwelling  beside  the  Basilica  and 
Tomb  of  St.  Felix  of  Nola,  the  present  Cimitile.  From  the 
apartments,  where  they  prayed  and  chanted  psalms,  they  could 
look  into  the  sanctuary  of  the  patron  martyr  of  Nola.1 

We  may  add  that  the  monasteries  of  Rome  were  established 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  famous  shrines  and  Basilicas,  not  merely 
to  increase  the  devotion  of  the  communities,  but  also  that  the 
monks  might  supervise  the  services  at  these  places.  The  due 
performance  of  the  services  in  the  memorial  Basilicas  and 
Catacombs  was  better  insured,  when,  beside  the  city  clergy 
who  only  went  out  to  them  at  stated  intervals,  there  were 
the  pious  inmates  of  the  monasteries  in  attendance  on  the  spot  ; 
such  was  the  case  at  the  coemeteritim  ad  cataaimbas,  whilst  the 
monks  of  St.  Lawrence's  did'  the  same  for  the  coemeterium  of 
St.  Hippolytus  and  for  that  of  St.  Cyriaca.2 

A  reminder  of  the  earliest  consecrated  virgins  of  Rome 
is  contained  in  the  Catacomb  of  St.  Priscilla.  This  is  the 
picture  above  the  tomb  of  a  virgin  who  had  received  the  veil 
from  the  Church's  hierarchy,  and  who  is  here  represented  in 
the  act  of  being  vested  with  the  symbol  of  perpetual  virginity 
(111.  169).  The  bishop,  seated  upon  his  cathedra,  with  his 
deacon  beside  him,  points  with  his  finger  to  a  figure  of  the 
Virgin  Mother  of  God  on  the  same  fresco,  as  if  to  show  the 
candidate  that  lofty  example  of  virtue  in  the  new  state  of  life 
into  which  she  is  entering.  The  same  virgin,  with  her  veil, 
appears  in  larger  proportions  in  the  centre  of  the  picture, 
praying  with  arms  outstretched.  The  veil  she  has  received 
falls  over  her  head  and  upon  her  tunic  {titnica  discincta),  which 
is  embroidered  with  a  double  stripe  (davits)  down  the  front. 
(111.  170).3 

How  simple  and  expressive  is  the  language  of  the  epitaphs  of 

1  Vita  S.  Paulini,  c.  18,  43;  P.L.,  LXI.,  51,  99. 

2  De  Rossi,  Roma  soft.,  III.,  529. 

3  We  owe  closer  knowledge  and  an  excellent  reproduction  of  this  picture  to  J.  Wilpert 
{Die  gottgcweihten  Jungfrauen,  &c,  p.  60  ff.  and  PI.  I.).  I  consider  the  recent  attempts 
made  to  give  the  picture  a  different  meaning  quite  unsuccessful.  Cp.  Wilpert,  Die 
Katakombejigcmalde,  PI.  79  f. 


111.  169. — Bestowal  of  the  Veil  on  a 
Consecrated  Virgin. 

(From  a  painting  in  the  Cemetery  of  St.  Priscilla. 
After  Wilpert.) 


No.  362] 


THE  EARLY  MONKS 


7 


the  Church's  consecrated  virgins,  compared  with  the  titles  bestowed 
on  the  Vestals.  In  the  inscriptions  on  the  statues,  whereby  agree- 
ably with  the  decrees  of  the  High  Priests  they  were  immortalised, 
the  chastity  of  the  Vestales  Maximae  is  extolled  in  elaborate 
terms  and  with  much  parade,  because  forsooth  they  had  observed 
the  law  of  the  goddess,  i.e.  the  vow  taken  for  the  years  of  their 
priestly  service.  The  Christian  tombs,  on  the  contrary,  have,  as  a 
rule,  much  simpler,  though  far  more  telling,  epitaphs.  For  instance : 
"[the  Tomb]  of  the  worthy 
and  well-deserving  virgin 
Adeodata ;  she  rests  here 
in  peace,  awaiting  the  order 
of  her  Bridegroom,  Christ." 
"  Bellicia,  a  most  faithful 
virgin,  rests  here  in  peace." 
"  Aurelia  Agapetilla,  a  hand- 
maid of  God,  sleeps  here 
in  peace."  "  In  this  grave 
rests  Alexandra,  a  conse- 
crated virgin  of  happy  me- 
mory, who  departed  to  meet 
Christ,  and  to  be  taken  up 
to  heaven,"  and  so  forth. 
Pope  Damasus  extols  his 
sister  Irene  in  a  touching, 
poetical  epitaph  for  her  zeal 
in  following  Christ,  "to 
whom  she  had  consecrated 
herself  in  holy  chastity " ; 
he  closes  with  the  prayer  :  "  Now  that  God  [thy  Bridegroom] 
has  come,  remember  us,  oh  virgin,  that  thy  lamp  may  give  us 
light  before  the  Lord." 1 

It  is  not  always  easy  to  tell  whether  such  epitaphs  found  in 
Rome  refer  to  male  or  female  ascetics  dwelling  alone,  or  to  inmates 
of  conventual  houses.  Even  when  monasticism  had  thoroughly 
established  itself  in  the  city,  asceticism  continued  to  be  practised 
by  individuals,  families,  and  even  large  associations,  according  to 
rules  of  their  own  choosing  and  independently  of  the  monasteries. 

1  The  epitaphs  in  Wilpert,  p.  86  f.  The  poem  by  Damasus,  ibid.,  p.  77,  and  in  de 
Rossi,  Bull.  arch,  crist.  1889,  p.  146  ff. 


8 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  363 


St.  Fulgentius  of  Ruspe,  when  staying  in  Rome  at  the  time 
of  Theodoric's  arrival,  visited  not  only  the  monastic  establish- 
ments, but  also  certain  noble  families  well  known  to  him,  who 
practised  renunciation  of  the  world  in  its  very  midst.  As  his  letters 
show,  he  remained  in  constant  friendly  intercourse  with  many 
followers  of  this  mode  of  life.  He  knew  and  valued  Theodore, 
the  senator  and  ex-consul,  who  dwelt  with  his  wife  as  with  a 
sister,  wholly  devoted  to  virtue  ;  he  speaks  of  Theodore's  pious 
mother,  the  guardian-angel  of  the  ascetic  association  in  her  illus- 
trious house  ;  to  this  association  belonged  also  the  noble  Romulus. 
Fulgentius  particularly  praises  the  virgin  Proba,  who  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Anician  family.  He  warmly  extols  her  for  feeding 
the  poor  at  her  table,  "  regardless  of  splendour  of  dress,  scorning 
the  luxurious  bath,  the  enervating  couch,  salves,  paint,  and  the 
jovial  companionship  of  society."1 

The  actual  monasteries  of  Rome  received  valuable  support 
from,  and  were  in  constant  spiritual  intercourse  with,  such  people 
of  high  standing,  who  had  devoted  their  lives  to  godliness. 

363.  A  yet  more  important  prop  of  the  Religious  Orders  was 
the  Roman  Papacy.  We  still  possess  a  whole  series  of  decrees 
issued  by  the  Popes  from  the  fourth  century  onwards,  dealing 
with  monastic  affairs  ;  some  defend  the  monks  against  injustice  ; 
others  regulate  their  mode  of  life,  and  are  concerned  with  dis- 
cipline ;  others,  again,  deal  with  the  appointment  of  religious  to 
offices,  clerical  or  otherwise,  &c.  The  Popes  insisted  strictly  on 
the  inviolability  of  monastic  vows  when  once  taken.  Pope  Siricius 
in  385  despatched  a  circular  letter  to  Bishop  Himerius  of  Tarra- 
gona, containing  instructions  against  breaches  of  conventual 
chastity.  Leo  I.  also,  in  443,  in  his  epistle  to  Rusticus,  Bishop 
of  Narbonne,  appointed  punishments  for  monks  or  nuns  who  had 
proved  false  to  their  vows.  Leo's  efforts  to  secure  among  the 
monasteries  unity  and  peace  in  the  domain  of  orthodoxy  were 
felt  as  far  as  Palestine.  The  Eastern  monks,  easily  excited  and 
much  too  prone  to  fanaticism,  often  took  the  side  of  the  heretics. 
Having  done  this,  they  were  wont  to  support  the  worst  errors  of 
Faith,  not  only  by  the  moral  influence  of  their  outwardly  strict 
and  mortified  lives,  but  also  by  acts  of  violence,  which  they 

1  Cp.  e.g.  FULGENTIUS,  Ep.  2  ad  Gal/am ;  ep.  3  and  4  ad  Probam ;  ep.  6  ad  Theo- 
dorumj  P.L.,  LXV.,  314,  324  ff.,  348. 


No.  363] 


THE  EARLY  MONKS 


9 


carried  out  at  the  head  of  a  rabble  ever  ready  to  follow  them 
blindly.  Pope  Leo  in  his  letters  had  to  bring  into  play  all  his 
authority  to  allay  the  excitement  among  the  monks  of  Palestine, 
who  had  been  led  astray  by  Nestorian  and  Eutychian  doctrines. 
We  have  already  related  how  much  Pope  Hormisdas  in  Rome 
was  harassed  and  assailed  by  certain  over  zealous  Scythian  monks. 
He  patiently  opposed  and  overcame  their  turbulence.1 

It  is  thus  seen  that  in  monasticism  all  was  not  equally  good, 
nor  has  the  golden  stream  of  zeal  and  strenuous  asceticism  at  any 
time  been  altogether  devoid  of  dross.  Though  conventual  life 
on  the  one  hand  matured  the  richest  fruits  of  self-sacrifice,  and 
made  itself  valuable  by  promoting  the  spread  of  the  Church  with 
its  teaching  and  morality,  yet  on  the  other  the  solicitude  of  the 
papacy  and  episcopate  for  the  welfare  of  the  monasteries  repeatedly 
obliged  them  to  intervene  in  order  to  remove  the  abuses  so  ready 
to  make  their  appearance. 


In  Italy,  among  the  pre-Benedictine  monks  of  the  fifth  and 
sixth  centuries,  two  things  especially  gave  rise  to  dissatisfaction. 
Even  the  Imperial  Government,  which,  in  its  desire  to  promote 
monasticism  and  increase  its  privileges,  had  legislated  for  the 
maintenance  of  good  order,  could  not  make  an  end  of  these  abuses. 
One  was  the  roaming  about  of  monks  of  all  sorts.  Crowds  of  them 
were  ceaselessly  on  the  move.  For  good  reasons  of  their  own, 
they  were  unwilling  to  settle  in  any  monastery,  preferring  to  call 
in  at  each  monastery  in  turn  for  a  few  days  as  passing  guests ; 
when  they  went  they  left  behind  them  a  sad  reputation  for  worldli- 
ness,  self-will,  and  the  vastness  of  their  appetite  and  thirst.  These 
were  the  monachi  gyrovagi,  of  whom  St.  Benedict  has  something 
to  say.  The  other  evil  was  due  to  small  groups,  sometimes  of 
only  two  or  three,  uniting  together  without  any  conventual  or 
ecclesiastical  superior,  with  no  fixed  rule  proved  by  experience, 
but  living  very  much  as  they  pleased.  "  In  reality  they  serve 
the  world,"  says  Benedict,  "  and  belie  God  with  their  habit  and 
their  shaven  pate.    This  bad  kind  of  monks  we  call  Sarabaitae." 

1  Siricius  :  JAFFE-KALTENBR.,  n.  255.  Leo  to  Rusticus,  ibid.,  n.  544.  Leo  to  the 
Palestinian  monks,  ibid.,  n.  500.  Hormisdas,  vol.  ii.  p.  302  ff.  Cp.  SPREITZENHOFER, 
Entivicklung  des  Monchthums,  p.  109  ff. ;  Die  kirchl.  Stellung  dcs  Monchthums. 


IO 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.364 


Cassian  was  already  acquainted  with  the  name  and  with  what  it 
stood  for.1 

The  earliest  conventual  establishments  where  good  discipline 
was  observed,  were  under  the  Bishop.  Under  his  supervision, 
and  guided  by  their  superior,  who  was  one  taken  from  among 
them,  they  followed  a  settled  rule  of  life,  had  their  regular  occupa- 
tions and  penitential  practices,  their  time  being  duly  apportioned 
to  prayer,  labour,  and  recreation. 

364.  As  we  are  aware,  there  existed  in  the  West  no  one 
Rule  obeyed  in  all  the  monasteries.  Nor  were  there  any 
Religious  Orders  such  as  the  world  knew  them  later.  The 
customs  of  the  monks  varied  from  country  to  country ;  even 
within  the  same  province  or  city  the  observances  of  the  monas- 
teries might  differ  materially.  At  the  same  time,  even  then,  two 
observances  had  come  to  be  valued  above  all  others.  These  were 
the  rules  of  the  famous  Greek  Father,  Basil  of  Caesarea,  and  of 
the  Latin  Abbot,  Cassian.  Both  were  to  serve  to  some  extent  as 
models  for  the  future  conventual  rule  of  life. 

The  rule  of  St.  Basil  owed  its  vogue  in  Italy  to  Rufinus. 
This  rule  was  characterised  by  the  strict  conception  of  monas- 
ticism  prevalent  in  the  East.  Its  rigour  was  even  increased  by 
many  of  its  observers,  who  embodied  in  it  customs  derived  from 
the  Egyptians.  The  latter  practices  had  come  to  their  know- 
ledge through  the  widely  read  Life  of  St.  Anthony,  written  by 
Athanasius,  and  the  lively  tales  told  by  travellers  of  the  Nile 
country  and  its  saintly  monks.  But  Cassian  and  his  predecessor, 
Martin  of  Tours,  appealed  to  the  Western  character  better  than 
Rufinus,  Basil,  and  the  Egyptians.  The  life  of  the  great  wonder- 
worker and  founder  of  monasteries  in  Gaul  proved  attractive.  His 
biography,  written  by  Sulpicius  Severus,  found  its  way  throughout 
the  Roman  Empire,  like  the  Life  of  St.  Anthony  by  Athanasius. 
In  Rome  it  was  very  favourably  received,  and  was  soon  accepted 
by  Romans  elsewhere. 

Cassian  of  Massilia  owed  his  influence  to  the  fact  that  his 
practical  insight  had  taught  him  to  modify  the  practices  of  the 
Easterns.  He  did  not  consider  the  extraordinary  examples  of 
certain  favoured  saints  to  be  binding  upon  all,  but  took  into  account 

1  Regula  S.  Benedicti,  c.  i,  De  generibus  mo7iachorum.  Cp.  Cassian,  Collat.,  18, 
c.  7. 


NO.  364] 


THE  EARLY  MONKS 


the  customs  and  views  prevailing  in  the  West.  It  seems  that, 
before  Benedict's  time,  Cassian's  Institutions  formed  the  standard 
in  most  of  the  monasteries  of  Italy  and  Rome.  Even  Cassiodorus 
could  still  recommend  the  inmates  of  the  religious  establishments 
founded  by  him  to  study  earnestly  Cassian's  ascetic  writings. 

Cassian,  after  his  long  stay  in  Egypt  and  Palestine,  paid  a 
visit  to  Rome  in  405,  and  it  is  a  remarkable  coincidence  that  the 
Liber  pontijicalis  should  ascribe  to  Innocent,  the  Pope  of  that 
day,  a  constitution  on  monastic  Rules.  Innocent  may  have  seized 
the  opportunity  of  the  presence  in  the  city  of  this  experienced  and 
illustrious  man  to  lay  down  some  general  principles  and  obser- 
vances which  might  produce  order  amidst  the  many  "  Rules " 
then  followed.1 

The  general  scheme  of  the  monastic  life  has  at  all  times  been 
based  upon  the  same  principles.  Subsequent  efforts  made  for 
the  improvement  of  conventual  life  have  always  respected  these 
fundamental  principles.  Such  an  endeavour  was  that  of  St. 
Coesarius  of  Aries,  who  drew  up  a  monastic  Rule  about  the  year 
520,  and  secured  its  adoption  in  Southern  Gaul.  Another  similar 
one  was  that  made  by  St.  Equitius,  called  by  St.  Gregory  "  the 
Father  of  many  monasteries,"  in  the  Province  of  Valeria,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  Lacus  Fucinus.  Yet  another  was  initiated 
by  St.  Columban,  who,  towards  the  close  of  the  sixth  century, 
restored  monastic  life  in  Gaul  and  in  Upper  Italy,  and  whose 
strict  Rule,  with  its  corporal  chastisements,  remained  long  in  use. 
Finally,  we  must  not  forget  the  Patriarch  of  mediaeval  monas- 
ticism  in  the  West,  Benedict  of  Nursia.2 

The  universal  basic  principles  of  the  Religious  life  comprise, 
first,  voluntary  poverty,  i.e.  the  renunciation  of  personal  possession 
or  control  of  property  ;  then  chastity,  or  the  voluntary  heroic 
struggle  with  fleshly  lusts  ;  thirdly,  obedience,  i.e.  the  surrender 
of  the  subject's  erring  will  in  submission  to  the  enlightened  guid- 
ance of  a  Superior,  who  is  himself  governed  by  the  Rule.  This 
threefold  sacrifice  is  offered  to  God  by  irrevocable  vows. 

Further,  in  the  monastery,  according  to  the  Church's  mind, 
prayer  and  work  are  combined  as  elements  of  the  daily  life.  By 
prayer  here  is  understood  chiefly  the  official,  public  prayers  recited 

1  Liber  pont.,  I,  220,  hinocentius,  n.  57:  "Hie  constitutum  fecit  de  omnem  ecclesiam 
et  de  regulis  monasteriorum  et  de  Iudaeis  ct  de  paganish 

2  Dial.  1,  c.  4.  Gregory  says  of  Equitius  :  " multorum  in  eadem provincia  [Va/criae") 
monasteriorum  pater  exstitit"    Lacus  Fucinus  is  near  Celano. 


I  2 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  365 


in  the  Church's  name,  i.e.  the  canonical  hours  with  their  Psalms, 
Antiphons,  Responses,  Lessons,  &c.  Work  in  the  early  monas- 
teries of  which  we  are  speaking  was  either  the  mental  labour  of 
study,  teaching,  preaching  to  the  people  or  evangelising  the 
heathen  ;  or  in  the  case  of  most  of  the  monks,  simple  manual 
toil  of  any  kind.  The  monks  were  nearly  all  laymen,  very 
few  being  in  Holy  Orders.  Palladius,  in  his  account  of  the 
Egyptian  monks,  says  :  "  One  of  them  is  busy  with  work  in  the 
fields,  another  in  the  garden,  a  third  in  the  bakehouse,  a  fourth  at 
the  forge  ;  this  one  works  as  a  carpenter  and  joiner,  that  one 
cleans  and  mends  clothes  ;  another  tans  leather,  and  yet  another 
makes  shoes  ;  here  one  copies  beautiful  and  dainty  books,  there 
another  weaves  baskets  large  and  small."  To  the  abbess  of  a 
Roman  convent,  Demetrias,  a  daughter  of  one  of  the  highest 
families  in  the  city,  St.  Jerome  writes  :  "  As  soon  as  you  have 
finished  your  prayers  in  choir,  let  not  the  wool  from  your  hands  ; 
let  your  fingers  ceaselessly  work  at  the  shreds  of  the  distaff,  or 
press  the  woof  in  the  shuttles  of  the  loom.  Collect  the  produce 
of  the  sisters'  industry  to  arrange  it  for  weaving,  and  look  well 
how  the  weavers  do  their  work.  If  badly  done,  find  fault  with  it, 
and  show  them  how  to  do  it."  1 

In  this  manner  Latin  conventual  life,  even  before  St.  Benedict, 
had  assumed  an  eminently  practical  form.  It  became  a  social 
power,  offering  useful  and  religious  interests  even  to  the  un- 
talented,  and  at  the  same  time  raising  better  minds  to  lofty 
spiritual  heights. 


365.  Benedict  had  been  pre-ordained  to  re-establish  Western 
monasticism  upon  firmer  ground  by  means  of  a  mild  and  wise 
Rule,  which  was  to  become  the  common  property  of  later  monas- 
teries. His  ordinances,  drafted  after  long  reflection  and  under  a 
special  illumination  from  above,  in  many  ways  softened  the  rigour 
of  the  previous  forms  of  monastic  discipline.  They  demanded 
nothing  beyond  the  powers  of  any  member  of  the  community. 
All  over  and  above  this  was  left  to  the  free  will  of  the  individual, 
which  the  Rule  served,  however,  to  spur.  Like  that  of  Cassian, 
this  Rule  suited  the  Western  character.    Each  monastery  was  to 

1  Palladius,  Hist.  Lausiaca,  c.  39.  Hieronymus,  Ep.  130,  c.  15.  Many  such 
recommendations  to  labour  are  to  be  found. 


no.  366]      SUBIACO  AND  MONTE  CASSINO 


J3 


be  as  a  family  under  an  Abbot's  fatherly  government.  This  intro- 
duction of  a  kind  of  family  feeling,  and  likewise  the  authority  and 
freedom  which  were  combined  in  the  Rule,  adapted  it  to  the  needs 
of  the  mediaeval  world  better  than  any  other  previous  monastic 
regulations. 

All  unconscious  of  the  far-reaching  character  of  his  innovation, 
Benedict  was  really  supplanting  the  monasticism  of  the  Roman 
world  by  that  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  asceticism  of  subsequent  centuries  bore  the  stamp  of  the 
powerful  yet  peaceful  and  fatherly  mind  of  the  founder  of  Monte 
Cassino.  His  little  book  of  rules,  with  its  simple,  practical  regu- 
lations, prepared  under  divine  Providence  a  seed-ground  upon 
which  great  Churchmen  were  to  be  matured  :  Popes  like  Gregory 
I.  and  Gregory  VII.;  strong  Bishops  and  enlightened  doctors 
like  Anselm  and  Bede  ;  bold  and  self-sacrificing  missioners  like 
Augustine  of  England  and  Boniface  of  Germany,  who,  with 
troops  of  industrious  monks,  went  forth  into  the  wilds  of  unbelief 
to  spread  Christian  civilisation  and  impart  peace  to  the  hearts  of 
men  estranged  from  God. 

Subiaco  and  Monte  Cassino  in  the  History  of  Rome 
and  St.  Benedict 

366.  St.  Benedict,  in  his  longing  after  God,  first  sought  peace 
for  his  own  soul  ;  he  wished  to  dwell  in  retirement  and  prayer. 
Still  young,  and  surrounded  by  the  attractions  of  high  social 
position,  he  quitted  Rome,  where  he  had  received  his  education, 
and  journeyed  up  the  valley  of  the  foaming  Anio  beyond  Tibur, 
till  he  found  a  spot,  remote  from  all  the  world,  where  he  could 
imitate  in  prayer  and  penance  the  example  set  by  the  saintly 
hermits  of  Egypt.  The  cave  which  he  chose  overlooked  the 
walls  of  a  splendid  Imperial  villa  built  by  Nero  and  lying  in  the 
valley.1 

Whoever  visits  now  this  memorable  grotto,  the  Sacro  Speco 
of  Subiaco,  against  which  the  monastery  church  was  erected  at  a 
later  date  (111.  1 7 1  ),2  and  then  wanders  through  the  ruins  below  of 

1  Greg.,  Dial.  2,  c.  1  (P.L.,  LXVI.,  128)  :  "  Deserii  loci  secession  pctiit,  cui  Sublacus 
vocabulum  est,  qui  ab  Romano,  urbc  quadraginta  fere  millibus  distans  frigidas  atque 
pcrspicuas  emanat  aquas"  &c.    Nothing  is  here  said  of  the  Imperial  Villa. 

2  The  grotto  lies  behind  the  tall  Gothic  arches  which  support  the  building.  To  the 
right,  on  the  hill,  is  seen  the  monastery  of  Romanus.  To  the  left,  in  the  valley,  on  the 
river  bank,  is  St.  Scholastica's,  below  which  lie  the  ruins  of  Nero's  Villa. 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[NO.  366 


Nero's  structure,  which  still  retains  its  grandeur,  will  feel  deeply 
impressed  by  the  historical  contrasts  gathered  together  in  this 
picturesque  corner  of  the  wilderness.  We  have  here  a  memorial 
of  the  abandoned  luxury  to  which  Pagan  Rome  descended  under 
the  rule  of  a  mad  Caesar,  and  likewise  the  rocky  monument  to  the 
virtue,  self-sacrifice,  and  godliness  of  early  monasticism,  for  the 
revival  of  which  Christian  Rome  had  sent  her  noblest  son. 

The  monks  who,  under  Benedict's  personal  direction,  estab- 
lished their  bare  cells  in  the  Villa,  could  well  say  to  themselves 
that,  with  their  poverty  and  contempt  for  the  world,  they  had 
literally  put  their  foot  upon  the  sinking  glamour  of  worldly 
pomp. 

The  Villa,  long  since  deserted,  was  doubtless,  when  Benedict 
came,  standing  as  a  ruin  half  hidden  by  the  thickets.  Yet  even 
to-day  its  general  plan  can  be  traced,  and  up  to  quite  recently 
valuable  works  ot  art  have  been  found  beneath  it.  The  fine 
marble  statue  of  the  naked  youth  playing  ball — a  Greek  work- 
came  from  this  classic  soil,  and  has  now  enriched  the  Museum  of 
the  Thermae  in  Rome.  It  was  discovered  by  Dom  Leone  Allodi 
in  1884,  at  a  depth  of  nearly  30  feet.  It  may  be  that  the  earliest 
monks  saw  it  standing  beside  the  river  or  the  lake,  where  it 
probably  formed  part  of  a  larger  group.1 

The  grounds  of  Nero's  Villa  stretched  on  both  sides  of  the 
bed  of  the  Anio,  the  banks  being  joined  by  a  lofty  bridge,  above 
which  the  stream  was  held  back  by  a  dam,  so  as  to  form  a  lake  of 
considerable  depth.  This  lake  was  the  scene  of  the  story  related 
by  Gregory  the  Great,  of  Benedict's  disciple  Maurus,  who,  at  his 
abbot's  command,  walked  boldly  upon  it  without  sinking  to  save 
his  drowning  comrade  Placidus.2 

Besides  this  lake  there  were  one  or  two  others,  lying  higher. 
They,  too,  were  formed  by  strong  barriers  of  masonry,  which 
retained  the  descending  water.  It  was  from  these  lakes  that  the 
locality  took  its  name  of  Sublacus,  now  Subiaco. 

The  neighbourhood  of  this  romantic  site  fixed  upon  by  Bene- 
dict was  not  at  that  time  utterly  uninhabited.  A  monastery 
existed  already  not  far  from  the  grotto,  standing  on  the  hill  behind 
Subiaco.    It  was  one  of  its  pious  inmates,  Romanus  by  name, 

1  A.  de  Ridder,  Rev.  archeol.,  1897,  pp.  265-290,  La  statue  de  Subiaco.  Cp. 
Brunn-Bruckmann,  A?itike  Denkmdler,  1,  i.  (1 891 ),  PI.  56,  p.  45  ff. 

2  Dial.  2,  c.  7;  P.L.,  LXVL,  146. 


no.  367]      SUBIACO  AND  MONTE  CASSINO  15 


who  undertook  to  supply  Benedict  in  his  hermitage  with  bread, 
letting  it  down  to  the  anchorite's  cell  by  means  of  a  rope. 

Not  until  three  years  had  passed  in  utter  seclusion,  would 
Benedict  enter  into  communication  with  his  neighbours.  He 
began  by  instructing  the  poor  herdsmen,  who  were  wont  to 
clamber  up  to  his  cave.  Later  on,  yielding  to  pressure,  he  under- 
took the  direction  of  a  headless  monastery  at  Vicovaro,  but 
returned  to  Subiaco  when  the  monks,  in  disgust  at  his  severity, 
had  attempted  to  rid  themselves  of  him  by  poison.  In  the 
vicinity  of  his  beloved  grotto,  on  the  river  banks  and  on  the 
heights,  he  founded  twelve  monasteries,  each  holding  twelve 
monks  under  abbots  of  his  own  nomination  ;  so  numerous  were 
those  attracted  by  his  reputation.  Among  his  monks  there 
were  even  some  Goths.  Illustrious  Romans,  too,  began  to  send 
him  their  boys  to  be  educated  and  prepared  for  the  monastic  life. 
The  patrician  Tertullus  confided  his  son  Placidus  to  Benedict's 
skilful  hands,  while  Equitius  sent  him  Maurus,  a  youth  of  great 
promise,  who  soon  became  his  master's  assistant  in  the  "  school 
of  God's  service.1 

Subiaco  was  not,  however,  to  be  the  chief  centre  of  the  new 
monastic  life  which  took  its  birth  there.  The  enmity  of  Florentius, 
the  priest,  who  even  tried  to  tempt  the  monks  to  sin,  drove 
Benedict  from  this  spot,  to  seek  a  refuge  in  the  still  remoter 
district  of  Monte  Cassino. 

367.  There,  high  above  the  little  town  of  Castrum  Cassinum, 
on  a  mountain  with  an  exquisite  view  of  the  Campanian  plain,  the 
saint  found  a  new  haven  of  peace.  There  he  settled  down  within 
the  walls  of  an  old  Pelasgic  colony  (111.  172). 2  The  masonry, 
of  so-called  Cyclopean  architecture,  consisting  of  hewn  blocks  of 
rock  piled  one  upon  the  other  to  form  colossal  walls,  had  long 
since  been  abandoned.  At  some  points  they  are  still  intact,  and 
it  may  be  seen  that  they  descend  from  the  mountain  in  two  long 
divergent  arms  as  far  as  the  hollow  in  which  Cassinum  lay.  This 

1  For  the  details,  consult  the  life  of  St.  Benedict  by  Gregory  the  Great  ;  it  forms  the 
whole  second  book  of  his  Dialogues.  A  Goth  is  spoken  of  in  chap.  6:  "Alio  quoque 
iempore  Gothics  quidam  pauper  spirit u  ad  conversio/iem  venit."  By  "  conversio  "  is 
always  meant  the  entering  on  the  religious  state.  Chap.  4,  on  the  arrival  of  Placidus 
and  of  Maurus. 

2  Drawn  by  Marola  from  a  photograph.  It  is  on  this  side  that  the  monastic  build- 
ings present  the  most  interest,  though,  for  the  greater  part,  they  were  erected  more 
recently. 


i6 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  367 


gigantic  stronghold  could  easily  be  adapted  to  serve  as  a  pro- 
tection for  a  large  establishment  of  monks.1 

With  all  its  majestic  beauty,  the  place  was,  however,  scarcely 
congenial  to  a  Christian,  for  it  was  yet  a  retreat  of  heathen  idolatry. 
The  last  of  the  pagans  still  rallied  there  round  an  altar  of  Apollo  ; 
unlettered  rustics  still  ascended  these  heights  to  offer  sacrifice. 


111.  172. — Monte  Cassino  and  the  Cyclopean  Wall. 


Since  Gregory  the  Great,  in  his  biography  of  St.  Benedict 
written  fifty  years  later,  speaks  of  the  Ara  as  having  existed 
there  "  from  the  hoariest  antiquity,"  and  since  he  mentions  a 
"grove  for  demon  worship"  in  connection  with  the  Temple  of 

1  On  these  walls,  see  DOMENICO  Bartolini,  L'antico  Cassino  e  il  primitivo  monas- 
tero  di  S.  Benedetto  (Monte  Cassino,  1880,  PL).  The  present  writer  can,  however, 
testify  from  observation  that  Bartolini's  work  stands  in  need  of  modification,  and  that  his 
reconstruction  of  the  ancient  monastery  and  of  its  churches  is  also  faulty. 


/ 


no.  367]      SUBIACO  AND  MONTE  CASSINO 


Apollo,1  we  may  take  it  that  the  worship  of  Apollo  at  this  spot 
dated  from  the  time  of  the  earliest  settlers,  and  that  the  Ara 
consisted  of  the  usual  tall  square  of  masonry  similar  to  others 
found  upon  hills  and  dating  from  Pelasgic  or  Cyclopean  times. 
Apollo  in  those  early  days  was  called  Pitosyrus.2 

It  may  be  that  the  Saint  was  attracted  to  this  locality  not  only 
by  its  safe  and  airy  situation,  but  also  by  the  very  fact  that  it  was 
still  a  resort  of  the  heathen.  He  may  have  conceived  the  idea  of 
completing  the  conquest  of  Italy  for  the  God  of  the  Christians. 
At  any  rate,  the  monastery  established  by  Benedict  upon  this  hill 
dedicated  to  the  false  god  of  light,  was  destined  more  than  any 
other  to  radiate  the  light  of  Christian  civilisation  over  barbarian 
Europe  by  means  of  the  virtue  and  learning  of  its  monks. 

Benedict  smashed  the  statue  of  the  god,  broke  down  the  altar, 
and  erected  instead  a  small  church  of  St.  John  the  Baptist.  In 
place  of  the  Temple  of  Apollo,  however,  he  built  another  little 
church  to  St.  Martin  of  Tours,  the  patron  saint  of  monks.  The 
grove,  which  he  burnt  down,  afforded  him  and  his  sturdy  brethren 
ground  for  cultivation. 

The  earliest  monastery  on  the  hill,  of  which  the  visitor 
naturally  will  seek  the  traces,  seems  to  have  been  built  inside 
the  south-west  angle  of  the  Cyclopean  Acropolis,  near  St.  Martin's 
church.  To  this  day  the  monks  will  have  it  that  in  this  portion 
of  the  enlarged  monastery  there  are  still  mementoes  of  the 
founder.  The  church  of  St.  John,  on  the  contrary,  with  Bene- 
dict's tomb,  must  be  sought  for  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  present 
buildings,  where  it  once  stood  all  alone  upon  the  gentle  slope  of 
the  hill,  now  occupied  by  the  large  conventual  church,  with  its 
two  picturesque  forecourts.  The  whole  arrangement  of  the  place 
is  made  clear  by  an  early  engraving,3  which  shows  the  great 
monastery  upon  the  projecting  crag  above  the  ruins  of  the  ancient 
Cassinum,  and  the  small  mediaeval  town  of  S.  Germano,  and  also 
gives  the  names  of  the  surrounding  sites  mentioned  in  early 
Benedictine  history. 

The  monastery  of  Monte  Cassino  was  founded  in  529.  St. 

1  Greg.,  Dial.  2,  c.  8:  uubi  vetustissimum  fanum  fitit,  in  quo  ex  antiqicorum  more 
gentilium  a  stulto  rusticorum  populo  Apollo  colebatur.  Circumquaque  etiam  in  cullic 
daemonum  luci  succreverant." 

2  De  Cara,  Gli  Hethei-Pelasgi,  1  (Roma,  1894),  p.  476. 

3  See  Gattola,  Accessiones  ad  historiam  Montis  Cassini,  I,  PI.  I.  It  was  at  St. 
Scholastica's  Convent,  shown  on  this  old  print,  that  there  took  place  the  meeting 
between  Benedict  and  his  sister,  described  by  Gregory  the  Great  (2,  c.  33). 

VOL.  III.  B 


i8 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  368 


Benedict  dwelt  here  for  rather  less  than  fifteen  years.  He 
stamped  out  idolatry  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  implanted  in 
the  hearts  of  faithful  brethren,  whose  number  was  ever  on  the 
increase,  the  love  of  monastic  virtues.  Disciples  soon  carried 
the  spirit  of  their  master  and  his  Rule  to  other  monasteries.  At 
an  early  date,  mediaeval  art  was  wont  to  portray  the  Saint,  with  his 
Rule,  in  front  of  his  disciples  (111.  173). 1  Such  pictures,  pervaded 
as  they  are  by  love  and  veneration  for  St.  Benedict,  charm  us  by 
the  quaintness  of  the  figures,  and  are  of  interest  as  showing  the 
plain  dress  of  the  early  monks  and  abbots  (111.  174).2 

368.  The  spirit  of  the  Benedictine  Rule  is  none  other  than 
the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  applied  in  a  life  based  upon  the  evangelical 
counsels.  This  is  distinctly  stated  in  the  short  introduction  which 
Benedict  wrote  for  his  Rule.  Its  expression  is  as  clear  and  fresh 
as  the  balmy  air  breathed  in  that  monastery  on  the  mountain-top. 
Everything  that  the  Saint  says  in  this  preface,  and  then  applies 
in  the  book  itself,  is  in  fact  as  distinct  and  lucid  as  the  southern 
sky,  which  covers  Monte  Cassino  and  the  verdant  plains  of  the 
Campagna  below  it. 

"  Hear,  my  son,"  says  the  Founder  to  his  disciples,  adapting 
the  words  of  Scripture,  "the  precepts  of  thy  teacher,  and  incline 
unto  them  thine  ear  and  thy  heart.  Receive  gladly  thy  father's 
counsel,  and  obey  it.  Return  unto  God  by  the  difficult  path  of 
obedience,  for  thou  hast  forsaken  Him  by  following  thine  own  will 
in  disobedience.  I  speak  unto  thee,  who  hast  resolved  to  forsake 
thine  own  desires  and  to  enter  the  service  of  the  true  King,  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.    Thou  wouldst  fain  be  girded  with  the  fine 

1  After  TOSTI,  Vita  di  san  Benedetto,  p.  201,  the  plate  having  been  lent  me  by  the 
monastery  of  Monte  Cassino.  John  is  seen  presenting  the  Founder  with  his  book. 
Behind  Benedict  is  seen  a  figure  which  perhaps  is  a  symbol  of  inspiration.  In  the 
background  is  an  Oratory  with  circular  apse. 

2  Tosti,  ibid.  The  inscription,  in  Leonine  verse  and  in  the  characters  usual  among 
the  Cassinese  scribes  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  is  as  follows  : 

"  Accipe  dignanter  quod  fert,  pater  aline,  Iohanncs, 
Munus  et  eterni  sibi  confer  inunera  regni. 
Snpplicis  ac  votis  pius  inde  faveto  Leonis, 
Est  studio  cuius  opus  actum  codicis  hums." 

Leo,  then  Abbot,  holds  the  book  and  introduces  John,  the  archpriest  of  Marsico,  at  whose 
expense  the  work  has  been  written.  St.  Benedict,  like  the  Abbot,  wears  the  ample  choir 
cucullus  or  cowl;  the  priest  an  embroidered  tunic,  a  stole,  and  planeta,  though  where  he 
is  seen  kneeling  he  has  divested  himself  of  all  save  the  tunic.  The  monks'  common 
dress  was  that  shown  on  the  previous  illustration,  i.e.  the  short  sleeveless  tunic  worn 
over  a  long  one.  There,  however,  it  has  an  embroidered  border  ;  the  Founder  is  shown 
with  a  mappula  resting  on  his  knees. 


111.  174. — Dress  of  the  Monks  according  to  one  of  the  oldest 
Miniatures  at  Monte  Cassino. 

(Codex  Cass.  99. ) 


no.  368]       THE  RULE  OF  ST.  BENEDICT  19 


and  powerful  weapons  of  obedience.  Pray  then,  before  all,  most 
earnestly,  that  strength  from  above  may  be  granted  thee  to  carry 
out  the  good  that  thou  hast  be^un." 

A  frequent  complaint  of  recent  years  repeats  in  various  forms 
the  saying  of  Gregorovius,  that  the  restrictions  imposed  by  conven- 
tual discipline  lie  "beyond  the  province  of  nature."  St.  Benedict, 
too,  was  well  aware  that  the  life  of  perfection. is  no  natural  voca- 
tion, nor  a  thing  prescribed  by  Christianity  for  every  one,  or  even 
for  the  many.  To  embrace  the  state  of  the  so-called  evangelical 
counsels  and  the  sacrifices  they  involve,  he  regarded  as  suitable 
only  for  those  who  felt  within  them  the  call  of  the  love  of  God. 
The  Saint  and  the  thousands  who  followed  him  on  his  rugged 
road,  knew  also,  and  felt  it  strongly,  that  their  aim  was  not  agree- 
able to  that  lower  human  nature,  which  they  had  to  bear  within 
them  to  the  grave.  But  in  their  resolve  to  follow  after  Christ, 
they  were  determined  to  struggle  against  those  lower  inclinations, 
so  as  to  set  free  the  higher  nature  within  them. 

At  the  very  commencement  of  his  Rule,  in  the  words  quoted 
above,  the  Founder  anticipates  the  modern  objection  that  cloistral 
life  is  contrary  to  the  "  purposes  of  nature,"  though  it  is  scarcely 
likely  that  he  foresaw  the  need  of  dealing  with  a  grievance  such 
as  this.  He  shows  clearly  that  his  words  are  not  intended  for 
all  believers,  but  only  for  him  who  wishes  to  enter  into  the 
especial  service  of  Christ  the  King ;  such  a  one  he  urges  to  pray 
God  fervently  that  he  may  obtain  the  necessary  grace,  just  because 
the  path  upon  which  he  is  entering  is  far  above  man's  natural 
calling,  inclinations,  or  powers. 

"  This  life  of  virginity,"  as  Ambrose  said  long  before,  speaking 
to  both  the  faithful  and  the  heathen,  "is  not  of  this  world,  nor  a 
discovery  of  nature.  Who  can  deny  that  it  came  down  from 
Heaven  with  Christianity?  You  scarcely  find  it  in  this  world, 
until  the  Redeemer  took  upon  Him  our  flesh.  .  .  .  His  advent 
was  needed  to  infuse  the  higher  spirit  of  Heaven  into  the  body 
of  man.  ...  Ye  are  not  of  this  world,"  proceeds  the  Milanese 
Doctor,  speaking  to  those  who  had  elected  to  follow  chaste  lives. 
"  Ye  were  indeed  given  to  the  world,  but  the  world  could  not 
retain  you."  1 

According  to  the  testimony  of  all  the  great  men  who  adopted 

1  Ambrose,  De  Virg.,  i,  c.  3  ;  P.L.,  XVI.,  192,  203:  "  Quis  neget  hanc  vitam 
fluxisse  de  coelis  ?  .  .  .  Saeculum  vos  habere  meruit,  te?iere  non  potuitP 


20 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  368 


the  life  of  sacrifice  and  prayer  within  the  Benedictine  Order,  the 
Founder's  promise  of  the  purest  and  noblest  joys  to  his  true  sons 
never  was  belied.  In  the  forefront  of  his  Rule  he  draws  the 
attention  of  those  entering  the  monastery  to  these  spiritual  plea- 
sures. "What  can  be  sweeter,  O  dearest  Brethren,"  he  says, 
"than  the  Lord's  invitation  to  us?  See  with  what  gentle  kind- 
ness He  shows  us  the  Way  of  Life.  Let  us  then  gird  up  our 
loins  with  faith  and  zeal  in  good  works,  and  let  us  walk,  guided 
by  the  Gospel,  in  His  ways,  that  we  may  be  worthy  to  see  Him 
who  has  called  us  to  His  kingdom." 

With  wonderful  solicitude  for  all  the  details  of  conventual  life, 
and  with  a  moderation  and  tact  testifying  to  his  real  genius,  the 
Saint,  after  thus  addressing  his  disciples,  proceeds  to  give  the 
rules  for  the  regulation  of  the  life  of  the  monks,  for  the  guidance 
of  the  family  or  community  by  the  abbot,  and  for  the  due  exercise 
of  virtue  and  mortification.  Prayer  in  choir  and  manual  labour, 
study  and  recreation,  punishment  of  the  unruly,  relations  with  the 
outside  world,  reception  of  guests — in  short,  the  whole  life  of  those 
committed  to  his  care  is  adjusted  wisely  and  affectionately.  The 
fact  that  the  Rule,  in  many  cases,  leaves  the  decision  to  the  abbot, 
gives  it  a  character  of  singular  elasticity  and  freedom.1 

This  is,  of  course,  not  the  place  to  examine  in  detail  this 
masterpiece  of  legislation.  What  is  noteworthy  is,  that  for  almost 
everything  enjoined  by  the  Rule,  points  of  comparison  exist  with 
earlier  monastic  constitutions.  Benedict  created  no  new  manner 
of  life,  nor  did  he  introduce  anything  quite  unknown.  On  the 
contrary,  it  can  be  shown  that  his  precepts  are  most  frequently 
taken  word  for  word  from  St.  Basil,  whom  he  calls  father,  from 
Cassian,  or  from  others.  The  style  of  Benedict's  Rule  is,  however, 
very  different  from  that  of  either  Basil  or  Cassian.  Benedict's  is 
a  code  of  laws,  of  which  the  enactments  are  so  terse  and  methodical, 
that  they  seem  put  together  at  one  stroke,  whereas  the  others 

1  That  the  Saint  did  not  wish  to  create  anything  new  with  his  Rule  is  made  clear  in 
the  prologue,  as  well  as  in  chapters  65  and  73.  That  it  did  import  into  monasticism  a 
fresh  element  is,  however,  well  shown  (against  Grtitzmacher,  Die  Bedeutung  Be?iedikts 
von  Nursia  und  seiner  Regel,  Berlin,  1892)  by  Suitbert  Baumer  in  the  Liter.  Rundschau, 
1893,  col.  80;  and  even  better  by  Beda  Adlhoch  in  the  Studien  cies  Benediktinerordens, 
14  (1893),  628  ff.  Cp.  Spreitzenhofer,  Die  hist.  Voraussetzungeji  der  Regel  des  hi. 
Benedikt,  Wien,  1895  (Jahresber.  des  Schottengymnasiums).  Much  research  has  recently 
been  devoted  to  the  text  of  the  Rule,  as  the  editions  of  Edmund  Schmidt,  Wolfflin,  and 
Traube  testify.  According  to  Traube  (SB.  der  Bayr.  Akad,  May,  1902)  the  best  MS.  is 
that  in  the  codex  of  Benedict  of  Aniane,  acquired  by  the  Munich  Library  from  that  of 
Joseph  von  Gorres.  Cp.  Traube,  Textgesch.  der  rcgida  S.  Benedicti  (AM.  der  Bayr. 
Akad.  2  AY.,  21  (1898),  3,  pp.  559-731  ;  cp.  WEYMAN,  Hist.  Jahrb.,  1898,  p.  726  ff. 


no.369]       THE  RULE  OF  ST.  BENEDICT  21 


present  their  ordinances  more  often  in  the  form  of  pious  reflec- 
tions, or  of  short  apophthegms,  without  embodying  them  in  a 
complete  Rule  or  setting  up  a  true  monastic  constitution. 

The  Rule  of  St.  Benedict,  and  the  Popes 

369.  The  sober,  moderate  spirit  of  the  Benedictine  Rule  and 
its  strict  adherence  to  tradition  made  it  precious  to  the  Roman 
Church.  One  might  well  say  that  the  whole  constitution  of  the 
Order  was  an  outcome  of  the  spirit  of  Christian  Rome,  nor  could 
the  Papacy  fail  to  recognise  in  the  Rule  of  St.  Benedict  the  traces 
of  its  own  administrative  policy. 

This  explains  why  the  Popes,  beginning  with  Gregory  the 
Great,  gave  preference  to  the  Benedictine  Rule  above  all  others. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  this  Papal  support  which  explains  the 
extraordinary  success  of  the  Rule,  its  immediate  adoption,  and 
wide  dissemination.  If  Rome  had  not,  so  to  speak,  taken  under 
its  wing  the  Rule,  and  those  monasteries  where  it  was  observed,  it 
is  doubtful  whether  the  latter  could  have  exercised  such  immense 
power  for  good.  It  was  to  Gregory  and  his  successors  that  the 
institute  owed  its  spread  and  its  success  in  every  sphere.1 

Needless  to  say,  the  Founder  in  drafting  his  Rule  was  thinking 
only  of  Monte  Cassino  and  of  the  monasteries  which  might  pro- 
ceed from  it.  To  produce  a  general  Rule  for  all  the  monasteries 
of  the  West  never  entered  into  his  plans.  This  was  a  result 
secured  only  later,  under  the  guidance  of  Providence.  In  his 
modesty,  Benedict  laid  down  for  his  monastery  of  Monte  Cassino 
and  its  possible  offshoots  the  principle  of  stability  ;  conformably 
with  his  vow,  whoever,  after  undergoing  the  long  novitiate,  was 
admitted  to  a  monastery  belonged  to  it  for  good  and  all.  Benedict 
made  no  attempt  to  combine  several  monasteries  under  one 
administration,  though  the  idea  of  such  a  combination  was  not 
foreign  to  his  mind.  It  was  the  Popes,  far  more  than  the  Founder, 
who  conceived  and  carried  out  the  plan  of  enforcing  this  Rule 
generally,  and  they  were  led  to  take  this  line  chiefly  because  of 

1  Suitbert  Baumer  says:  "The  Popes  found  in  this  Rule  a  spirit  in  keeping  with  that 
of  the  Roman  Church — the  same  practical  legislative  character,  that  wise  moderation, 
that  broad-mindedness  and  comprehensiveness,  that  recognition  of  the  principle  of 
authority  which  has  always  distinguished  Rome  and  the  Roman  Church.  The  author 
[Griitzmacher]  indirectly  grants  this  by  saying  (p.  72)  that,  '  owing  to  the  universal 
acceptance  of  the  Benedictine  Rule,  monasticism  became  imbued  with  the  Roman 
spirit.'"    Liter.  Rundschau,  1893,  col.  80. 


22 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  369 


the  easy  application  and  exceptionally  practical  character  of  the 
Benedictine  institutions. 

The  greatest  merit  with  regard  to  the  extension  of  the  Order 
belongs  to  Pope  Gregory  I.,  not  only  on  account  of  the  administra- 
tive steps  he  took  in  favour  of  these  monasteries,  but  also  on 
account  of  the  biography  of  the  Saint,  full  of  love  and  admira- 
tion, which  is  contained  in  the  Dialogues.  Gregory  had  been  in 
friendly  intercourse  with  personal  disciples  of  St.  Benedict.  His 
statements  are  derived  from  the  Founder's  successors  in  office  at 
Monte  Cassino.  the  Abbots  Constantine  and  Simplicius,  from 
Valentinian,  Abbot  of  the  Benedictine  Monastery  near  the 
Lateran  in  Rome,  and  from  Honoratus,  Abbot  of  Subiaco.  Hence 
his  accounts  are  characterised  by  much  local  and  personal  colour. 
One  instance  is  his  allusion  to  the  Roman  subdeacon  Florentius, 
who  is  mentioned  as  a  still  surviving  grandson  of  Florentius  the 
priest,  the  prime  mover  in  the  persecution  which  drove.  Benedict 
from  Subiaco,  a  sad  family  reminiscence  for  the  subdeacon.1 

Gregory's  narrative  is  certainly  overstocked  with  miracles. 
A  number  of  quite  extraordinary  events,  which  are  related  as 
matters  of  everyday  occurrence,  may  be  founded  upon  false  tradi- 
tions or  exaggerations  of  contemporaries  and  disciples,  dominated 
by  Benedict's  personality.  Such  stories  could,  however,  scarcely 
have  arisen  save  in  the  case  of  a  man  of  wonderful  power  who 
was  generally  accredited  with  the  gift  of  working  miracles.  The 
case  is  the  same  with  St.  Benedict  as  with  St.  Martin  of  Tours 
and  other  great  saints  and  missioners.  To  cast  doubt  on 
their  miracles  one  and  all  would  be  contrary  to  sound  historical 
criticism. 

Nor  are  miraculous  tales  by  any  means  the  main  subject  of 
Gregory's  life  of  St.  Benedict.  Its  chief  subject-matter  is  the 
great  man's  character.  We  there  see  Benedict  in  all  his  indivi- 
duality  ;  we  realise  his  wonderful  generosity  and  zeal  for  holiness, 
an  ardour  which  he  nevertheless  knew  how  to  temper  with 
wisdom  and  gentleness  in  his  dealings  with  others,  so  as  not  to 
repel  them  ;  we  feel  also  the  severity  of  the  lawgiver — which  the 
sacred  art  of  the  Middle  Ages  typified  by  a  rod — though  amidst 
it  all  we  feel  the  love  and  affection  of  the  father.  This  portrait 
of  the  Saint  is  too  true  to  nature,  and  completes  too  well  what 

1  Gregory  says  of  his  informants  (Dial.,  lib.  2,  Praef.) :  "  Panca  quae  ?iarro,  quattuor 
discipulis  Wins  refcrcntibns  agnovi,"  &c.    Florentius,  ibid.,  c.  8. 


No.37o]       THE  RULE  OF  ST.  BENEDICT  23 

the  Rule  leaves  unsaid  to  have  been  all  a  product  of  Gregory's 
fancy. 

370.  Supported  by  the  authority  of  the  Roman  See,  and 
furthered  by  this  attractive  biography,  written  by  a  Pope  of 
Gregory's  high  standing,  the  Benedictine  Order  quickly  made  its 
way  among  the  nations  in  Christendom. 

Mabillon,  the  historian  of  the  Order,  describes  it  as  having 
been  in  the  seventh  century  already  in  a  golden  age.  The 
monasteries  of  this  Rule  in  England,  even  then,  vied  with  those 
of  Italy  and  Spain.  From  the  eighth  century  till  the  foundation 
of  the  mendicant  orders  in  the  thirteenth,  the  Rule  of  St.  Benedict 
was  observed  almost  without  exception  in  all  monasteries  through- 
out the  West.  So  rapid  was  its  progress  in  the  beginning  that 
legend  soon  seized  upon  the  phenomenon,  for  instance,  making  of 
St.  Maurus,  the  founder's  spiritual  son,  an  active  promoter  of  the 
Order  in  Gaul,  for  which,  however,  no  authentic  documents  can 
be  quoted. 

In  Italy  at  the  time  of  St.  Benedict  the  yearning  of  society 
for  monasticism  was  quite  remarkable.  The  downfall  of  Roman 
institutions,  civil  and  social,  in  the  West  led  people  to  expect  a 
universal  catastrophe.  To  this  was  added  the  moral  effect  of  the 
long  and  horrible  war  between  the  Ostrogoths  and  Byzantines. 
Many  turned  away  in  weariness  and  disgust  from  a  world  which 
Gregory,  in  his  writings  and  sermons,  so  often  describes,  agreeably 
with  the  feeling  of  the  day,  as  "perishing."  They  sought  shelter 
in  the  cloisters,  hoping  to  find  better  things  there. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  not  from  earthly  considera- 
tions that  the  majority  betook  themselves  to  the  rough  and  simple 
monastic  cell,  but  because  they  were  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
which  haunted  the  troubled  world.  It  was  the  will  of  Providence 
that  the  people  should  recollect  themselves,  and  also  that  mis- 
sionary centres  should  be  created  for  the  new  nations,  to  the 
improvement  of  their  rugged  character.  Nothing  exercised  such 
fascination  over  these  still  unconverted  sons  of  nature  as  the 
shining  example  of  a  man  of  heaven,  especially  when  his  teaching 
was  supported  by  the  power  of  miracles. 

There  were,  however,  others  who  took  the  Religious  habit 
from  less  worthy  motives  ;  they  had  been  disillusioned,  or  over- 
come by  their  bitter  experience  of  the  world,  or  they  came  in 


24 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  370 


hopes  of  finding  safety  and  shelter.  Such  disciples,  incautiously 
admitted,  were  often  a  source  of  internal  strife.  As  sober  his- 
torians, we  may  well  think  that  many  a  monastery  had  much  to  do 
to  inspire  such  torpid  members  with  some  sort  of  religious  energy. 
Nevertheless,  had  not  by  far  the  greater  number  of  the  monks 
who  prayed  and  worked  entered  with  a  true  vocation  and  with  a 
right  heart,  the  monastic  institution  would  never  have  thriven  as 
it  did  for  so  many  ages. 

Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  that  saintly  abbot,  later  on  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  casting  a  glance  back  on  the  results  monasticism 
since  its  origin  had  achieved  in  its  followers,  exclaims  in  astonish- 
ment :  "  Christ  spoke  wonderful  words  when  He  said,  '  Every  one 
that  hath  left  house,  or  brethren,  or  lands  to  follow  me,  shall 
receive  an  hundredfold  and  shall  possess  life  everlasting.'  These 
words  have  everywhere  led  men  to  despise  this  world  and  to 
choose  voluntary  poverty  ;  they  have  filled  the  abbeys  with  monks 
and  the  deserts  with  hermits  ;  they  have  spoiled  the  Egyptians  and 
decked  the  sanctuaries  with  their  best  possessions  ;  they  were  living 
and  powerful  words  which  kindled  souls  with  zeal  for  holiness  and 
with  the  hope  of  a  reward,  sure  and  everlasting." 


CHAPTER 


III 


POPE  VIGILIUS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE,  AND 
THE  EMPEROR  JUSTINIAN 

Vigilius  at  Court 

371.  Amid  the  storms  excited  by  the  struggles  of  nations,  the 
West  was  quietly  preparing  for  the  future,  and,  among  the  factors 
which  were  to  be  most  beneficial  for  mediaeval  civilisation, 
monasticism,  of  which  we  have  just  seen  the  inception,  holds  the 
highest  place.  In  the  East,  on  the  contrary,  though  Justinian,  by 
dint  of  able  policy  and  good  generalship,  was  increasing  his 
temporal  prestige,  the  fruitless  theological  controversies  over  the 
Three  Chapters  occupied  the  forefront  of  interest. 

We  left  Pope  Vigilius  on  his  unwilling  journey  to  Constanti- 
nople. He  reached  his  destination  in  mid-winter,  at  the  end  of 
546  or  beginning  of  547. 

The  Emperor  Justinian  was  anxious  to  conceal  from  the 
Bishops,  especially  from  those  of  the  West,  the  moral  coercion 
that  had  been  exercised  against  Peter's  successor  by  his  forcible 
removal  from  Rome. 

During  his  journey  Vigilius  had  received  many  complaints 
from  various  parts  of  the  West  against  Justinian's  high-handed- 
ness in  the  matter  of  the  Three  Chapters,  and  this  resentment 
strengthened  him  in  his  intention  not  to  accept  the  Emperor's 
ruling. 

Probably  from  considerations  of  prudence,  the  Emperor  had 
prepared  a  brilliant  reception  for  the  Pope  ;  he  himself  went  to 
meet  the  Church's  Head,  and  the  two  embraced  each  other  with 
tears,  after  which  the  populace,  singing  psalms,  marched  before 
the  Pope  on  the  way  to  St.  Sophia ;  everywhere  he  was  met  with 
the  cry,  "  See,  the  ruler  has  come,  the  Lord."  When  the  recep- 
tion was  over,  the  guest  took  up  his  quarters  in  the  Palace  of 
Placidia,  which  was  the  official  residence  of  the  Papal  Nuncio  in 
New  Rome. 

25 


26 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  372 


The  first  interviews  between  Vigilius  and  Justinian  bore  on 
the  distress  of  Rome  and  Italy.  Procopius  tells  us  that  Vigilius 
ceased  not  to  urge  the  Emperor  to  make  every  exertion  to  re- 
incorporate Italy  in  the  Empire.  To  this  end  he  used  as  his 
intermediaries  certain  noble  "Italici"  who  were  living  in  the 
Greek  capital.  He  was  more  especially  supported  by  Cethegus, 
a  patrician  and  man  of  consular  dignity,  who  had  journeyed  from 
Italy  on  purpose  to  seek  assistance.  "The  Emperor,"  continues 
Procopius,  describing  the  whole  episode  with  astounding  accuracy, 
"  indeed  promised  not  to  forget  Italy  ;  but  his  whole  attention  was 
devoted  to  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  and  he  was  busy  with  the 
settlement  of  controverted  points  of  theology.  That  is.  how 
matters  stood  in  Byzantium."  1 

Such  was  indeed  the  case,  and  the  Pope,  because  he  persisted 
in  his  refusal  to  ratify  the  Imperial  Edict,  had  to  suffer  persecution 
at  the  hands  both  of  the  Court  and  of  the  Greek  Episcopate. 

Justinian  displayed  all  the  courtesy  and  all  the  brutality  he 
was  so  well  able  to  combine.  When  Vigilius  found  himself 
separated  from  his  attendants  and  acquaintance,  and  treated  like 
a  prisoner,  he  exclaimed  :  "Though  you  may  be  able  to  hold  me 
prisoner,  Blessed  Peter  the  Apostle  you  cannot  imprison."  2 

At  last,  however,  the  Pope's  resistance  was  overcome,  and  he 
yielded  to  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  on  him.  His  giving  way 
was  first  of  all  a  consequence  of  his  weak  character,  but  it  was 
also  due  to  his  fear  lest  a  schism  should  break  out,  seeing  that  the 
Emperor  was  supported  by  the  whole  of  the  Greek  Episcopate. 
In  doing  what  he  did  he  clung  to  the  hope  of  overcoming  Western 
opposition  and  dispersing  the  prejudices  which  existed  there. 

It  would  almost  seem  that  the  Empress  had  a  finger  in  the 
business  ;  woman-like,  she  was  anxious  to  have  at  last  the  satis- 
faction of  curbing  a  Pope  who  had  not  chosen  to  respond  to  her 
former  advances. 

372.  There  was  no  question,  as  we  know,  of  making  any 
compromise  with  heresy.  Vigilius,  like  the  Emperor,  could  con- 
demn the  Three  Chapters  without  any  deviation  from  the  Faith. 

1  Procop.,  3,  c.  35. 

2  "  Etsi  me  captivum  tcnetis,  beatum  Petritm  apostolum  captivum  facere  non  potestis." 
Epist.  clericorum  Italiae  ad  legatos  Fra?icorum;  P.L.,  LXIX.,  1 1 6.  Cp.  Duchesne, 
Revue  des  questions  hist.,  1884,  2,  404,  406  ;  Vigile  sur  la  voie  doiiloitrcusc.  This  article 
points  out,  among  other  things,  how  many  erroneous  and  confusing  statements  concern- 
ing Vigilius  are  contained  in  the  account  of  the  Liber pontipiealis. 


no.  372]          POPE  VIGILIUS  AT  COURT 


We  have  previously  observed  that  Justinian's  Edict  against  the 
Chapters,  which  was  the  cause  of  the  whole  dispute,  in  no  way- 
impaired  the  Church's  doctrine  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  had  been 
issued  from  an  excess  of  zeal  in  favour  of  the  Faith.  To  be 
orthodox  was  the  Emperor's  great  ambition,  and  a  point  on  which 
he  was  even  inclined  to  be  sensitive. 

But  was  such  protection  by  edict  required  for  the  Faith  ?  Was 
it  even  useful  and  not  rather  injudicious,  as  actually  tending  to 
foment  confusion  and  even  schism  ?  That  was  the  question  re- 
garding which  different  opinions  prevailed.  The  censured  writings 
of  Bishop  Theodoret  and  the  theological  letter  of  the  so-called 
Ibas,  i.e.  two  of  the  "Chapters"  assailed  by  Justinian,  had  been 
already  sufficiently  stigmatised,  though  indeed  only  indirectly,  by 
the  condemnation  of  Nestorianism.  Why  then  proceed  against 
them  again  ?  Also  the  third  "  Chapter,"  the  works  and  the  per- 
son of  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  had  long  been  disapproved  of 
by  all  right-minded  people.  Moreover,  Theodore,  the  real  father 
of  Nestorianism,  like  Theodoret  and  Ibas,  had  long  since  quitted 
this  world.  Why,  then,  one  might  ask,  re-animate  his  ghost  and 
again  bring  him  up  for  trial  ? 

Justinian  and  his  Court  theologians  argued  :  "  We  must  stamp 
out  the  Chapters,  for  they  furnish  a  refuge  to  the  Nestorians. 
Such  was  the  argument  of  Theodore  Ascidas,  the  Bishop,  who 
had  first  proposed  the  measure,  and  of  Menas,  the  weak  Byzan- 
tine Patriarch,  who  most  willingly  staked  the  whole  authority  of 
his  see  upon  the  Imperial  edict. 

The  opposite  party,  consisting  of  the  Latins,  and  for  a  while 
supported  by  the  Pope,  declared,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  con- 
demnation of  the  Three  Chapters  lowered  the  dignity  of  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon,  which  had  seen  no  reason  to  take  any 
action  against  the  Chapters,  and  had  even  recognised  Theodoret 
and  Ibas,  as  soon  as  both  had  protested  their  orthodoxy.  More- 
over, on  the  Latin  side,  it  was  also  pointed  out  that  the  Emperor, 
as  temporal  ruler,  had  no  right  to  issue  edicts  on  Church  matters, 
such  as  that  against  the  Chapters  ;  such  opponents  saw  well  the 
danger  there  was  in  the  servile  deference  of  the  Greek  Bishops 
to  such  edicts  of  the  Court. 

Such  was  the  reasoning,  for  instance,  of  Dacius,  Archbishop 
of  Milan,  then  residing  at  Constantinople,  who  assailed  the  edict 
in    the  name  of  the  North  Italian  Bishops  ;    of  Facundus  of 


28  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  373 


Hermiane,  the  learned  and  impassioned  spokesman  of  the  African 
Episcopate  ;  of  his  countrymen,  Bishop  Pontian,  and  of  Ferrandus, 
the  Carthaginian  deacon.  In  their  attacks  they,  however,  some- 
times went  too  far,  and  ascribed  to  the  decriers  of  the  Chapters 
views  and  doctrines  which  they  did  not  hold. 

373.  Vigilius,  faltering  in  his  opposition  to  the  Emperor,  con- 
tented himself  with  the  assurance  that,  in  spite  of  all,  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  the  Roman  Primacy  were  formally  secured. 
Above  all,  the  decision  was  to  emanate  from  him  ;  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  assembly  which  he  now  held  with  the  Bishops  staying  in 
the  Imperial  City  took  the  form  of  an  independent  Papal  Court  of 
Justice  for  settling  the  question  raised.  It  resulted  in  the  Pope 
rejecting  the  Three  Chapters  by  the  "  Judicatum"  (April  11,  548), 
a  perfectly  orthodox  document,  in  which  the  decisions  of  the  four 
previous  General  Councils  are  again  reaffirmed.1 

The  publication  of  this  judgment  caused  a  fierce  storm,  the 
Latins  at  Constantinople  being  loud  in  their  outcry.  Even 
Vigilius's  own  nephew,  Rusticus  the  deacon,  opposed  the  Pope, 
and  was  backed  up  by  Sebastian,  another  Papal  deacon.  Vigilius 
would  have  done  well  to  have  retired  in  haste  from  the  contentious 
atmosphere  of  the  Capital.  No  doubt  he  wished  himself  back 
in  Rome  ;  but  there  Pelagius,  the  powerful  deacon,  was  also  a 
dangerous  opponent  of  the  Pope's  recent  step,  whilst  the  city 
itself  was  in  the  grip  of  Totila,  who  well  knew  that  the  Pope,  as 
the  foremost  advocate  of  Roman  Imperialism,  was  working  against 
him  at  the  Byzantine  Court.  The  situation  was  indeed  a  difficult 
one. 

Almost  worse  than  anything  the  Goths  could  have  done  were 
the  steps  taken  by  the  Pope's  theological  adversaries.  They 
calumniated  him ;  declared  him  guilty  of  treason  against  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon  ;  the  Bishops  of  Illyricum,  Dalmatia,  and 
Africa  withdrew  from  his  communion. 

The  Pope,  startled  and  bewildered  by  the  confusion,  resolved 
on  the  holding  of  a  General  Council.  But  Constantinople  was 
clearly  not  the  place  for  this,  and  the  plan  never  got  beyond  the 

1  The  "Judicatum"  is  only  known  from  fragments,  MANSI,  9,  104,  105,  181  ;  Jaffk- 
Kaltenbr.,  n.  922;  these,  however,  suffice  to  justify  Duchesne's  opinion,  loc.  cit.  406  : 
"  Les  reserves  etaient  si  claires  et  si  precises,  que  nul  monophysite  n'aurait  pu  les  signer 
sans  faire  ainsi  une  abjuration  complete."  Against  Cardinal  Pitra's  doubts  as  to  its 
authenticity,  see  GRISAR,  Anal,  row.,  1,  56  ff. 


no.  374]  POPE  VIGILIUS  AT  COURT 


29 


preliminary  steps,  thanks  to  Justinian's  cunning  and  the  decrees 
of  banishment  which  he  issued  against  the  dissenting  Bishops. 
Vigilius  demanded  the  return  of  his  "Judicatum"  from  the 
Emperor,  and  received  it  back  after  many  requests.  For  this, 
however,  Justinian  avenged  himself  by  issuing,  in  551,  a  fresh 
edict  against  the  Chapters,  a  proceeding  which  only  embittered 
the  controversy. 

Vigilius  now  threatened  to  excommunicate  the  Bishops  who 
were  assembled  with  him  in  the  Palace  of  Placidia,  and  who  were 
mostly  Greeks,  should  they  sign  the  Emperor's  new  edict.  They 
were,  however,  prevailed  upon  by  Theodore  Ascidas  and  the 
Court  to  disregard  him,  and  took  the  Emperor's  side.  No  one 
could  foresee  how  the  conflict  would  end. 

It  would  seem  like  a  punishment  for  his  usurpation  of  the  See 
of  Rome,  that  Vigilius  found  himself  entangled  in  such  difficulties 
and  ill-feeling ;  he  was,  however,  to  pay  still  more  dearly  for 
ousting  Pope  Silverius. 

374.  As  soon  as  Justinian  saw  that  Vigilius  was  becoming 
inclined  to  make  advances  to  the  Western  party,  and  was  deter- 
mined at  any  price  to  assert  the  independence  of  the  Church,  he 
sought  to  place  him  in  safe  custody.  Vigilius  accordingly,  with 
his  clergy  and  Dacius  of  Milan,  sought  refuge  in  the  church  of 
St.  Peter  in  Hormisda.  From  this  place  of  sanctuary  he  launched 
an  excommunication  against  Theodore  Ascidas  and  his  adherents. 

o 

The  Prsetor  of  the  City  guards  promptly  appeared  on  the  scene 
with  armed  troops  sent  by  the  Emperor,  under  orders  to  remove 
Vigilius  and  his  companions  by  force  from  the  church.  In  their 
straits  the  Pope  and  Dacius  clung  to  the  altar,  while  the  clergy 
closed  around  to  protect  them.  First  the  clergy  and  then  Dacius 
were  wrenched  away.  Then  hands  were  laid  on  the  Successor  of 
Peter,  and  an  attempt  made  to  drag  him  away  by  his  feet  and 
head,  but  so  firmly  did  Vigilius  hold  to  the  pillars  of  the  holy 
altar,  that,  in  the  struggle,  it  was  overturned,  the  Pope  escaping 
injury  only  through  the  prompt  help  of  the  bystanders. 

Meanwhile,  the  Pope's  friends  had  forced  their  way  into  the 
church,  and,  on  seeing  the  treatment  meted  out  to  the  revered 
Universal  Bishop,  they  raised  the  cry  of  revolt.  At  last  the  soldiery, 
becoming  alarmed  at  their  threats,  desisted,  and  escaped  from  the 
desecrated  building,  pursued  by  the  crowd.    Not  until  they  had 


3° 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  374 


received  a  safe-conduct  would  the  Pope  and  the  Bishop  quit  the 
sanctuary. 

In  the  Palace  of  Placidia,  however,  the  Emperor  and  his 
abettors  again  assailed  the  Pope,  so  that  he  was  at  last  forced 
to  resolve  on  a  flight  from  Constantinople. 

One  night,  two  days  before  Christmas  551,  and  therefore  in 
the  midst  of  winter,  he  let  himself  down  by  a  rope  from  a  window 
of  the  house  in  which  he  was  guarded,  on  to  a  wall  which  was 
being  built,  clambered  over  the  stones  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  and, 
passing  through  a  postern  where  there  was  no  sentinel,  reached 
the  sea.  There  friends  were  awaiting  him  with  a  boat,  in  which 
he  was  quietly  rowed  across  the  Bosphorus  to  Chalcedon,  the 
memorable  city  of  the  Council,  and  in  the  same  church  where  the 
Fathers  had  held  their  meetings,  at  the  tomb  of  St.  Euphemia, 
the  terrified  Pope,  the  Bishop  of  Milan,  and  other  faithful  followers 
sought  a  haven  of  refuge. 

This  step  made  the  position  of  Justinian  one  of  great  awkward- 
ness. How  could  he,  the  orthodox  Emperor,  lay  himself  open 
before  the  whole  Christian  world,  to  the  charge  of  having  driven 
away  the  Supreme  Pontiff  as  a  fugitive,  especially  to  a  spot  like 
Chalcedon  ?  Did  not  the  deed  seem  to  brand  the  Emperor  as 
an  opponent  of  the  Council  once  held  there,  and  to  put  him  in 
the  position  of  a  real  persecutor  of  the  Church  ?  The  exclama- 
tion which  the  Liber  pontificalis  puts  on  Vigilius's  lips,  only 
expressed  the  view  of  all  the  Faithful  who  heard  of  these 
events:  "In  Justinian  I  found,  not  a  gracious  sovereign,  but 
a  Diocletian."1 

Justinian  asked  himself  whether  he  should  drag  the  Pope 
from  his  refuge.  His  embarrassment  became  still  greater 
when  Vigilius,  owing  to  his  sufferings  and  fatigue,  fell  ill,  and 
sent  a  pathetic  circular-letter  to  the  whole  of  Christendom. 
In  this  the  Supreme  Head  of  the  Church  related  what  had 
occurred,  professing  his  unswerving  adherence  to  the  Faith, 
and  setting  forth  his  claims. 

The  circumstances  of  the  persecuted  Pope  could  not  fail 
to  excite  reverence.  Affliction  and  public  violence  had  inspired 
him  with  strength.    Under  similar  conditions,  other  heirs  of 

1  Liber pont.,  i,  298,  n.  106  :  "  Ut  video,  non  me  fecerunt  venire  ad  se  Instinianus  et 
Theodora  piissimi  principcs;  sed  hodie  scio,  qitod  Diocletiamim  et  Eleutheriam  [sic] 
inveni.    Facite  ut  vultis :  digna  enim  factis  recipio."    Edit.  MOMMSEN,  p.  152. 


no.  375]         POPE  VIGILIUS  AT  COURT 


Peter's  plenary  power,  who  also  had  their  hours  of  weakness, 
displayed  equal  courage. 

Even  his  enemies  were  now  ready  to  submit,  and  those 
Greek  Bishops  who  had  been  excommunicated  sent  letters 
making  offerings  of  peace.  Justinian  himself,  with  the  utmost 
kindness,  besought  the  Pope  to  return,  offering  him  a  safe- 
conduct.  The  personal  intervention  of  Belisarius,  the  friend 
and  quondam  all-too-ready  patron  of  Vigilius,  was,  however, 
needed  before  the  Pope  would  quit  Chalcedon. 

After  his  return,  the  idea  of  a  General  Council  was  again 
taken  up,  and  Vigilius  worked  energetically  that  the  Western 
Church  might  be  suitably  represented.  It  was  his  aim  to 
conciliate  the  West  and  terminate  the  schism.  He  wished 
to  set  aside  the  question  of  the  Chapters,  and,  in  spite  of 
the  Emperor,  to  involve  in  oblivion  the  troublesome  points 
in  dispute.  This  would,  indeed,  have  been  the  best  course 
from  the  first,  as  the  question  was  one  which  should  never 
have  been  raised.  But  that  it  must  at  last  be  firmly  suppressed 
was  strongly  urged  on  the  Pope  by  Pelagius,  the  bold  and  far- 
seeing  deacon  of  Rome.  After  having  worked  well  for  the 
Roman  Church  and  the  afflicted  City,  he  had  now  come  to 
Constantinople,  which  he  knew  well,  having  formerly  occupied 
the  position  of  Papal  Apocrisiary. 

The  sharp  eyes  of  Pelagius  soon  perceived  that  the  Emperor 
was  exerting  all  his  might  to  render  impossible  a  genuine 
CEcumenical  Council. 

375.  Bishops  to  the  number  of  151,  all  from  the  East,  save 
six  Africans,  were  already  in  session  as  a  General  Council, 
when,  at  the  pressing  advice  of  Pelagius,  the  much-tried  and 
ever-wavering  Vigilius  decided  to  enter  the  lists  against  it. 
Then  was  seen  the  extraordinary  episode  of  an  Imperial,  so- 
called  GEcumenical,  Council  being  held,  while  in  the  same  city 
St.  Peter's  Successor  refused  to  take  part  in  it.  Vigilius  let  it 
be  known  that  he  would  publish  a  special  decision,  agreeably 
with  the  importance  of  his  position.  The  assembly  of  Bishops 
formulated  a  decree,  which,  as  might  have  been  foreseen, 
agreed  with  the  Emperor's  views,  and  condemned  the  Three 
Chapters.  The  Pope,  on  the  contrary,  now  issued  his  definition, 
taking  in  it  a  line  opposed  to  the  Emperor's ;  this  was  the 


32 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.375 


so-called  Constitutum.  The  document  appears  to  have  been 
previously  sent  by  him  to  the  assembly,  while  it  was  still 
sitting,  but  to  have  been  kept  back  by  Justinian.  It  forbade 
the  condemnation  of  the  Three  Chapters,  and  the  detailed 
exposition,  accompanying  the  prohibition,  is  excellent.  A  series 
of  erroneous  doctrines,  extracted  from  the  writings  of  Theodore 
of  Mopsuestia,  is  refuted  with  good  proofs.1 

Justinian  replied  to  the  "  Constitutum  "  by  causing  the 
Bishops  assembled  to  erase  the  name  of  the  Pope  from  the 
diptychs,  declaring,  meanwhile,  that  no  intention  existed  of 
severing  intercourse  with  the  Apostolic  See.  This  took  place 
while  the  Council  was  yet  in  session.2 

After  its  close  the  Emperor  banished  the  few  Latins  of 
the  opposition  on  whom  he  could  lay  hands,  and  followed  up 
his  victory  by  promises  and  presents.  He  doubtless  also 
approached  Vigilius,  either  with  threats  or  by  gentler  means. 
Unfortunately,  we  are  not  informed  as  to  the  details  of  the 
Pope's  conduct,  but  it  is  certain  that  he,  at  last,  in  553,  sub- 
mitted to  the  Emperor.  The  advice  of  Pelagius  the  deacon 
was  unavailing  to  induce  him  to  maintain  the  position  he  had 
taken  in  the  "  Constitutum."  3 

The  Christian  world  learnt  with  dismay  that  Vigilius  had 
altered  his  mind  a  third  time. 

Such  changeableness  was  scarcely  calculated  to  raise  the 
dignity  of  his  See.  It  was,  indeed,  a  wound  of  which  the 
results  were  to  remain.  We  must  not,  however,  forget  that 
the  Pope  was  ill  and  suffering  agony  from  stone,  that  he  had 
been  finally  separated  even  from  his  friends,  and  was  affrighted 
by  the  fate  of  his  exiled  supporters. 

1  The  "  Constitutum"  of  May  14,  553,  in  Mansi,  9,  61 ;  P.L.,  LXIX.,  67,  and  recently 
in  the  edition  of  the  Collectio  Avcllana  (pars  1,  1895)  by  O.  Gunther  in  the  Corpus 
Script,  eccles.  Vindob.,  p.  230.  Gamier  says  of  the  "  Constitutum  "  {De  libris  Theodoreti 
[Theodoreti  Opera,  ed.  Schultze,  5,  555]):  " mirabili  quadam  ratione  composition,  ut 
nihil  sexto  saeculo  melius  et  forte  par  edition  reperiatur." 

2  Mansi,  9,  367.  The  Emperor  says:  "  Utiitatem  vero  ad  apostolicam  sedem  el  nos 
servamus  et  certum  est  quod  et  vos  custodietis?  The  Bishops  reply:  "  Sctvcmus  itaque 
unitatem  ad  apostolicam  sacrosanctae  ccclesiae  sedem  antiquioris  Romac,  omnia  secundum 
tenorem  lectorum  apicum  pcragcntcs"  The  feeling  of  unity  and  of  the  need  of  cohesion 
with  the  Head  was  evidently  dominant,  even  at  such  a  crisis.  The  authenticity  of  the 
documents  which  speak  of  the  erasure  of  the  Pope's  name  from  the  diptychs  has  been 
questioned  by  many.  Cp.,  however,  Hefele,  Conciliengesch.,  2,  887  ff . ;  Hergen- 
ROTHER,  Hdb.  der  KG.,  1,  p.  503,  note,  and  Photius,  1,  172  ;  DUCHESNE,  Rev.  des  quest, 
hist.,  1884,  II.,  p.  420. 

3  The  Pope's  announcement  of  his  altered  view,  in  MANSI,  9,  413,  457  ;  P.L.,  LXIX., 
122,  143  (December  8,  553,  and  February  23,  554). 


No.  376] 


END  OF  VIGILIUS 


33 


Justinian,  on  the  other  hand,  his  bitter  oppressor,  not  only 
had  on  his  side  all  the  Greek  Bishops,  but  had  also  again 
asserted  his  power  in  Italy.  The  valiant  Narses  had  subdued 
Rome  for  him,  and  the  Gothic  domination  was  now  a  thing 
of  the  past.  Now  that  Rome  was  again  in  his  power,  what 
was  there  to  prevent  the  Emperor  from  setting  up  a  new 
Pope  whose  views  agreed  with  his  own  ?  This  thought  also 
may  well  have  disturbed  Vigilius,  and  have  been  the  last  drop 
which  caused  his  cup  to  overflow  ;  in  his  anxiety  to  return  to 
Rome  he  was  now  ready  to  do  anything. 

We  still  have  the  last  long  letter  from  him,  which  lacks 
only  the  address,  in  which  he  accepts  the  Imperial  edict  and 
condemns  the  Three  Chapters.  The  scribes  who  were  respon- 
sible for  the  drafting  of  this  document  were  at  pains  to  insert 
in  it  a  detailed  confutation  of  the  arguments  previously  adduced 
in  support  of  the  Chapters.  At  a  later  period  it  was  made 
clear  that  this  assent  to  the  decision  issued  by  the  Emperor 
and  the  assembled  Bishops  did,  in  the  end,  pave  a  way  to 
agreement,  and  at  least  served  to  unite  the  whole  East.1 

376.  Now  that  the  Sovereign  had  gained  his  end,  Vigilius 
was  allowed  to  return  in  the  sunshine  of  Imperial  favour.  As 
a  mark  of  regard  he  took  back  with  him  something  valuable 
for  Italy,  for  the  City  of  Rome,  and  in  a  certain  sense  even 
for  the  Papacy.  This  was  the  promise  of  a  Pragmatic  Sanction, 
or  Imperial  law,  regulating  Italian  affairs.  Such  an  ordinance 
was  promulgated  at  Constantinople  on  August  13,  554,  a  few 
months  after  the  drawing  up  of  the  Papal  document  just  spoken 
of,  at  the  beginning  of  which  we  find  it  stated  that  it  had 
been  granted  at  the  request  of  Vigilius.  What  we  now  possess 
of, the  Sanction  is  not  the  original  law,  but  a  collection  of 
statutes  by  which  was  modified  and  improved  the  great  law 
which  heralded  a  brighter  day  for  Italy.2 

It  seems  to  have  been  in   the   spring,   555,  that  Vigilius 

1  See  the  second  references  in  the  previous  note,  in  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  937.  On 
the  whole  matter,  see  DiEHL,  Jitstinien  (1901),  pp.  356-362. 

2  The  so-called  Pragmatic  Sanction  (in  the  Novellae  of  Justinian,  ed-  C.  E.  Zachariae 
VON  LlNGENTHAL,  Lipsiae,  1 88 1,  2,  354-366)  begins  :  "Pro  pctitione  Vigilii  venerabilis 
antiquioris  Rontae  cpiscopi  quaedam  disponcnda  esse  censuimus"  &c.  At  the  end  stands 
the  formula:  " Pragmatica  data  idibus  Augusti  .  .  .  JVarsi  viro  ill.  praeposito  sacri 
cubiculi,  Antiocho  viro  magnifico  praefecto  per  ftaliam."  Cp.  Hartmann,  Untersueh- 
ungen  sur  Gcsch.  der  byzant.  Veriualtung  in  Italien  scit  540,  p.  6,  and  also  his  Gesc/i. 
I  (aliens  itn  MA.,  1,  356  ff. 

VOL.  III.  C 


34 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  376 


set  out  on  his  homeward  voyage.  On  arriving  at  Syracuse, 
however,  he  felt  too  weak  to  proceed,  and  there,  on  June  7, 
555,  he  breathed  his  last. 

At  last,  after  ten  years'  absence,  his  lifeless  body  was 
brought  back  to  Rome  and  buried  on  the  Salarian  Way,  in 
the  memorial  church  built  by  Pope  Silvester  above  the  cemetery 
of  Priscilla.  He  had  done  much  to  restore  the  Salarian  Cata- 
combs, where  the  ravages  of  the  Goths  had  been  severely  felt. 
The  memory  of  this  work  perhaps  explains  why  he  was  buried 
there,  and  not  with  his  predecessors  in  the  portico  of  St. 
Peter's.  He  is  the  first  in  the  list  of  Popes  who,  so  far  as 
we  know,  at  no  time,  then  or  later,  was  ever  the  recipient  of 
saintly  honours. 


CHAPTER  IV 


POPE  PELAGIUS  I.  AND  ROME  AFTER  THE  THREE-CHAPTERS 
CONTROVERSY  AND  THE  GOTHIC  WAR 

Pelagius  I.  and  the  Friends  of  the  Three  Chapters 

377.  A  Roman  inscription  extols  a  certain  Roman  presbyter 
Mareas  as  the  person  best  fitted  to  succeed  to  the  Apostolic  See. 
This  inscription,  unfortunately,  is  a  mere  poem  adorning  his 
tomb,  for  the  worthy  priest  in  question  died  before  the  end  of 
August  555- 

From  this  epitaph,  which  is  embedded  in  the  wall  of  the 
Atrium  of  Sta.  Maria  in  Trastevere,  we  gather  that  Mareas 
had  represented  the  Pope  during  the  last  years  of  Vigilius's 
absence.  He  was  much  beloved  on  account  of  his  integrity  and 
charity  ;  he  had  given  his  all  to  the  poor ;  he  was  also,  so  it 
seems,  a  champion  of  the  Faith  and  of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon 
in  particular.  Moreover,  according  to  the  laconic  text,  he  had 
been  called  upon  to  maintain  the  traditions  of  the  Church  re- 
garding the  non-reiteration  of  confirmation.  The  letters  on  the 
tombstone  are  difficult  to  decipher,  as  it  once  formed  part  of  the 
pavement,  and  thus  was  worn  away.  De  Rossi  has,  however, 
supplied  what  is  missing  with  the  aid  of  early  copies  taken  from 
the  slab  when  it  was  still  in  good  preservation.1 

Mareas  having  been  called  away  by  pitiless  death,  there 
remained  another  Roman  at  Constantinople  who,  in  the  eyes  of 
Justinian,  seemed  fit  to  succeed.  This  was  Pelagius  the  deacon, 
a  cleric  most  respected  on  account  of  his  qualities  and  no  less 
for  his  high  birth,  who  had  long  been  on  good  terms  with  the 
Emperor. 

Just  now,  and  for  some  time  past,  he  had,  however,  been  in 
disgrace  at  Court ;  in  fact,  on  account  of  his  opposition  to  the 
Imperial  Council,  he  had  been  put  under  lock  and  key  in  one  of 

1  "DIGNE  Tenes  premium,  Marea,  pro  nomine  Christi  |  .  .  .  TV  FVERAS 
MEritus  pontificate  decus"  &c.  De  ROSSI,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1869,  p.  19  ff.  ;  Inscr. 
christ.  urbis  Romae,  2,  1,  pp.  83,  117.    DUCHESNE,  Liber pont.,  1,  302. 

35 


36 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  377 


the  monasteries  of  the  city,  where  he  was  kept  so  secluded  as  not 
even  to  have  access  to  books.  Even  this  confinement  did  not 
prevent  the  fiery  controversialist  from  continuing  to  defend  his 
point  of  view  with  the  pen,  nor  from  branding  the  condemnation 
of  the  Three  Chapters  as  a  mistake  and  a  fatal  misfortune.  Nor 
did  he  stop  there.  Because  Pope  Vigilius  had  finally  acquiesced 
in  the  judgment  of  the  Council,  he  pitilessly  assailed  him,  depicting 
him  in  the  guise  of  an  irresolute  old  man,  at  the  mercy  of  his 
satellites,  i.e.  of  the  clergy  surrounding  him  ;  he  accused  him  of 
unreliability  and  of  prostituting  his  office  for  money.  Towards 
the  end  of  554  or  beginning  of  555,  he  even  wrote  a  new  work,  in 
six  books,  against  the  opponents  of  the  Chapters.1 

It  may  be  that,  on  receiving  news  of  the  death  of  Vigilius,  he 
realised  that  the  unfortunate  Pope  had  at  least  gone  to  the  grave 
with  the  knowledge  that  his  last  action  in  withdrawing  his  veto 
had,  after  all,  been  useful  for  the  peace  of  the  Church  and  for  her 
consolidation  in  the  East.  The  maintenance  of  the  Church's 
unity  must  outweigh  all  other  considerations.  It  may  be,  then, 
that  Pelagius,  on  coming  to  himself  and  reviewing  matters, 
perceived  that  the  course  he  was  so  ardently  following  could 
lead  only  to  schism  and  irreparable  mischief. 

We  do  not  know  how  his  conversion  was  effected,  but  at  any 
rate  his  opinion  did  undergo  a  change,  and  he,  too,  finally  accepted 
the  condemnation  of  the  Three  Chapters,  thus  taking  the  part  of 
the  Council,  which  was  that  of  all  the  Greeks  and  of  most  of  the 
Latins.  It  has  been  said  that  only  the  prospect  of  receiving  the 
Papal  dignity  could  have  influenced  him  so  powerfully.  This 
may  possibly  have  been  the  case,  though  proof  is  wanting. 

Justinian  undertook  to  promote  his  election  to  the  Papacy, 
and  Pelagius  accordingly  went  to  Rome,  where  he  was  received 
with  mixed  feelings,  as,  regarding  the  Chapters,  minds  were  divided. 
Unhappily  we  have  no  information  regarding  the  election,  but  we 
know  that  Pelagius  was  consecrated  on  Easter  Sunday,  April  16, 
556,  after  the  See  had  been  widowed  nearly  ten  months.  The 
consecrating  Bishops  were  John  of  Perusium  and  Bonus  of  Feren- 

1  Pelagius,  when  Pope,  mentions  two  works  which  he  wrote  at  that  time  :  "  Refuta- 
torium  ad  papain  Vigilium,  quando  me  dampnare  volebat,  et  sex  libros  in  defensionem 
capitulorum  clausos."  The  latter,  unpublished,  work,  now  in  the  Orleans  Library,  is 
mentioned  by  Duchesne,  Bull,  crit.,  5  (1884),  96;  Rev.  des  quest,  hist.,  1884,  II., 
425.  Cp.  S.  Reiter,  Eine  uncdirte  Schrift  des  Pelagius,  in  Serta  Harteliana,  Wien, 
1896,  Tempsky. 


NO.  378] 


POPE  PELAGIUS  I 


37 


tinum,  the  usual  Bishops  not  being  present,  possibly  because 
their  Sees  were  also  vacant.  The  main  support  of  the  new  Pope 
was  Narses,  the  orthodox  and  zealous  General,  who  then  governed 
Italy  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor. 

Under  the  rule  of  a  man  like  Justinian  the  Papal  dignity  can 
scarcely  have  been  a  very  desirable  office — at  least,  not  for  one 
who  knew  the  Emperor's  character  so  well  as  Pelagius.  His 
treatment  of  Vigilius  was  too  notorious.  In  such  a  city  as  Rome, 
torn  by  factions,  it  was  much  more  inviting  to  be  a  wealthy 
and  influential  deacon  than  to  be  Pope  and  to  have  the  duty  of 
struggling  against  a  dogmatic  and  overbearing  Emperor,  whom 
recent  triumph  had  rendered  even  more  tyrannical.  This  is  why 
we  think  the  contention  questionable  that  mere  ambition  induced 
Pelagius  to  alter  his  opinion  regarding  the  Three  Chapters.  It 
is  true  that,  having  become  Pope,  he  laboured  to  make  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Synod  of  Constantinople  accepted.  He  honestly 
strove  to  remove  the  prejudices  existing  in  the  West  against  the 
Synod  and  the  Emperor  and  in  favour  of  the  Chapters.  His 
position  as  Pope  was,  however,  rendered  exceedingly  difficult, 
owing  to  the  passion  he  had  at  one  time  displayed  in  defence  of 
the  Chapters. 

378.  His  foes  cast  his  own  writings  in  the  face  of  the  new 
Pope,  they  dragged  to  light  the  hard  things  he  had  said  of 
Vigilius,  and  made  his  ministration  in  many  ways  as  troublesome 
and  difficult  as  his  predecessor's.  His  sole  consolation  was  to  be 
able  to  state  quite  truthfully  that  he  had  at  least  been  consistent 
in  his  firm  hold  on  the  doctrines  of  Faith. 

The  doctrines  of  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  he  had  indirectly, 
but  clearly  enough,  condemned  in  the  "  Constitutum  "  of  553, 
which  was  largely  his  work.  As  for  the  two  others,  Ibas  and 
Theodoret,  he  did  them  no  injury  any  more  than  Vigilius,  in 
anathematising  certain  writings  of  theirs,  which  they  themselves 
had  rightly  retracted  at  Chalcedon.  It  was  therefore  wrong  to 
argue,  as  did  the  Western  advocates  of  the  Chapters,  that  a  blow 
had  been  struck  at  the  authority  of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon. 
Under  the  then  circumstances,  peace  and  orthodoxy  were  best  to 
be  served  by  increasing  the  importance  of  the  last  Council — that, 
namely,  held  at  Constantinople  in  553. 

In  process  of  time  this  Council,  when  the  details  of  its  history 


3§ 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  378 


had  faded  out  of  mind,  came  to  be  numbered  with  the  first 
four  CEcumenical  Councils.  In  590,  it  is  true,  Gregory  the  Great 
mentions  only  the  first  four  as  CEcumenical,  though  he  professes 
an  equal  reverence  for  the  fifth  {i.e.  of  Constantinople),  condemn- 
ing all  it  had  condemned  ;  all  these  Councils  were  in  force  by 
universal  consent.1 

That  the  decision  of  Constantinople  came  to  obtain  such 
authority  was  evidently  not  to  be  ascribed  to  the  character  of 
the  assembly,  for  neither  the  attendance  nor  the  intrinsic  im- 
portance of  the  gathering  was  such  as  to  render  it  CEcumenical. 
Its  authority  throughout  the  Church  was  due  rather  to  the  sub- 
sequent acceptance  by  Vigilius  and  Pelagius  of  the  judgment  it 
had  pronounced.  After  having  been  stamped  with  approval  by 
the  Holy  See,  the  Synod,  little  by  little,  won  recognition  through- 
out the  Christian  world. 

Yet,  in  the  West,  there  was  no  lack  of  opposition  against  the 
validity  of  its  sentence,  and  the  schisms  which  had  been  so  much 
feared  actually  broke  out  here,  or,  at  least,  were  escaped  only 
with  difficulty.  Such  was  the  case  in  Northern  Africa,  in  Illyri- 
cum,  and  in  the  North  Italian  provinces. 

Thanks  to  the  pressure  of  the  Imperial  Government  and  the 
persuasive  arts  of  those  who  favoured  the  Council,  the  assent  of 
Africa  and  Illyricum  was  obtained  at  no  great  cost.  In  Italy, 
however,  and  especially  in  the  dioceses  of  Milan  and  Aquileia, 
and  likewise  in  Dalmatia,  a  stubborn  and  schismatic  opposition 
was  maintained. 

As  already  hinted,  Pelagius  had  also  to  face  resistance  in 
Rome,  and,  to  overcome  it,  was  forced  to  employ  extraordinary 
and,  for  the  Papacy,  unprecedented  means.  Such  was  the  pro- 
fession of  Faith  which  he  made  at  his  consecration.  In  this  he 
declared  his  entire  acceptance  of  the  four  Councils,  particularly  of 
that  of  Chalcedon ;  of  any  fifth  "  CEcumenical "  Council  he  here 
says  nothing.  Further,  he  declared  his  adherence  to  the  doctrines 
laid  down  in  the  writings  of  his  predecessors,  Celestine,  Xystus, 
and  Leo  the  Great,  down  to  John  II.  and  Agapetus  ;  those  whom 
they  recognised  as  orthodox  he,  too,  acknowledges  as  such, 
particularly  "  the  venerable  Bishops  Ibas  and  Theodoret."  Of 

1  Ep.  1,  24,  p.  36  (ed.  Maur.,  i,  25) ;  Jaff£-Ewald,  n.  1092  :  Pelagius  I.  terms  the 
fifth  Council  "universalis  synodus."  Ep.  ad  Narsetem  patricium.  Coll.  britann.  in  the 
Neues  Arckiv,  5  (1880),  555;  Jaff£-Kaltenbr.,  1019.  He  also  gives  it  the  name  of 
"generate  concilium."    Neues  Archiv,  5,  536  ;  Mon,  Germ,  hist.,  Epist.,  3,  442. 


No.  379] 


POPE  PELAGIUS  I 


39 


Vigilius  and  the  decree  of  Constantinople  he  prudently  refrained 
from  speaking.1 

As,  however,  the  monks  and  many  of  the  more  educated  and 
better-class  Faithful  persisted  in  holding  themselves  aloof  from 
him,  he  took  advantage  of  a  "station"  in  the  Basilica  of  St. 
Pancras  to  make  a  fresh  pronouncement.  The  station  in  this 
church,  then  as  now,  was  on  Low  Sunday  :  according  to  custom, 
the  monks,  clergy,  and  many  of  the  people  came  in  procession 
with  the  Pope,  who  acted  as  celebrant.  No  doubt  both  in  the 
procession  and  in  the  Martyr's  Basilica  on  the  Janiculus  there 
were  some  significant  gaps.  Pelagius  took  counsel  with  the 
General,  Narses,  who  was  also  present,  and  thereupon,  as  soon  as 
the  service  was  over,  all  present  proceeded  to  St.  Peter's,  singing 
psalms  on  the  way.  There  Pelagius,  taking  the  book  of  the 
Gospels  and  a  cross,  mounted  the  ambo,  and  solemnly  holding 
both  above  his  head  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people,  swore  that  he 
was  innocent  of  the  betrayal  of  the  Faith,  with  which  he  was 
charged.2 

On  the  same  occasion,  or  shortly  afterwards,  he  held  with  the 
clergy  present  a  sort  of  Consistory  at  the  Tomb  of  St.  Peter.  He 
advised  a  careful  and  canonical  replenishment  of  the  ranks  of  the 
Roman  clergy,  which  had  been  considerably  thinned  during  the 
prolonged  absence  of  Vigilius  and  during  the  ensuing  vacancy. 
At  the  same  time  he  also  proposed  a  decree  for  the  prevention  of 
simony  at  the  forthcoming  ordinations.  By  such  measures  in  the 
interest  of  the  Church,  and  by  his  solicitude  for  the  city  churches, 
in  which  he  replaced  the  valuables  of  which  they  had  been  robbed 
during  the  war,  by  dint  of  prudence  and  worldly  knowledge,  he 
finally  rallied  all  the  Romans  to  his  cause  and  dispersed  the  last 
traces  of  the  schism. 

What  actually  did  most  for  the  re-establishment  of  peace  was, 
however,  his  affectionate  care  for  the  poor,  his  constant  endea- 
vours— for  which  he  had  been  famous  even  in  earlier  days — to 
ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  inhabitants  of  Rome. 

379.  Pelagius  was  now  free  to  turn  his  anxious  eyes  towards 
those  regions  of  the  West  which  had  either  dissolved  communion 
with  Rome  or  seemed  on  the  point  of  doing  so.    The  Bishops  of 

1  Mansi,  9,  717  ;  P.L.,  LXIX.,  379  ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  938. 

2  Liber fiont.,  1,  303,  Pelagius  /.,  n.  109.    Ed.  MOMMSEN,  p.  155. 


4o 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  379 


Northern  Tuscia  refused  to  insert  his  name  in  the  diptychs.  He 
removed  the  cause  of  their  objection  by  sending  them  a  profession 
of  Faith,  in  which  the  thorny  question  of  the  Three  Chapters  is 
not  broached,  but  which  seems  to  have  satisfied  them.  In  the 
archdioceses  of  Milan  and  Aquileia  obstinate  and  fanatical  schis- 
matics continued  to  disturb  the  peace  by  publicly  thwarting  the 
Primate.  After  fruitlessly  endeavouring  to  reconcile  them, 
Pelagius  at  last  requested  the  Byzantine  authorities  to  deal  with 
the  ringleaders  according  to  the  laws  of  the  Empire,  and  to 
eject  them  from  their  bishoprics.1 

Throughout  Frankish  countries  also  the  malcontents  diligently 
circulated  his  ill-considered  earlier  writings  against  the  judgment 
of  Constantinople.  They  urged  that  credence  should  be  given  to 
the  earlier  Pelagius  rather  than  to  the  later.  King  Childebert, 
uncertain  of  his  ground,  very  good-naturedly  begged  the  Pope 
himself  to  assure  him  in  writing  that  he  accepted  in  all  things  the 
doctrine  of  Pope  Leo.  This  Pelagius  did,  and  as  suspicions  were 
not  thereby  allayed  he  sent  the  King  a  fresh  and  still  more 
elaborate  profession  of  faith,  together  with  a  friendly  letter,  by 
which  he  hoped,  if  possible,  to  dispose  once  for  all  of  the  asper- 
sions which  had  been  cast  on  him.  Both  documents  seem  to  have 
been  intended  more  for  the  local  Bishops,  who  had  been  respon- 
sible for  the  King's  inquiry,  than  for  the  King  himself.2 

"  Matters  of  Faith,"  says  the  Pope  to  his  uneasy  questioners, 
once  more  without  a  word  of  the  Council  of  Constantinople,  were 
"not  being  discussed  in  the  East;  in  this  respect,  thanks  be  to 
God,  the  Church  ever  since  the  death  of  the  Empress  Theodora 
has  nothing  more  to  fear  there.  There  have  been,  however,  lively 
discussions  concerning  some  Chapters  lying  quite  outside  the 
Faith.  It  would  take  too  long,"  he  continues,  "to  explain  these 
matters  by  letter.  We  will  only  add,  what  should  suffice  for  your 
tranquillity,  that  we  anathematise  all  who  swerve  or  have  swerved 

1  To  the  Bishops  of  Tuscia:  Mansi,  9,  716  ;  P.L.,  LXIX.,  397;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr., 
n.  93Q.  On  the  use  of  force  against  the  schismatics,  see,  e.g.  the  letter  to  the  patrician 
Valerian,  a  document  which  has  only  recently  become  known  through  the  British  collec- 
tion of  Papal  rescripts  :  Nenes  Archiv,  5  (1880),  561  ;  Mon.  Germ,  hist.,  Epist.,  3,  445  ; 
Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  1038.  In  this  Pelagius  demands  that  schismatics  who  have  thrust 
themselves  into  bishoprics  be  brought  before  the  Emperor  (" legitima  utamini fiotestate" 
&c).  The  Pope  insists  that  recourse  to  violent  measures  is  justified  in  such  cases,  and 
quotes  St.  Augustine  to  this  effect. 

2  Mansi,  9,  722  ff. ;  P.L.,  LXIX.,  402  ff.  The  middle  portion,  which  Pagi  (in 
Baronius,  an.  556,  n.  7  ff.)  proposed  to  set  aside  as  spurious,  cannot  be  questioned  ; 
see  Duchesne,  Rev.  des  quest,  hist.,  1884,  II.,  435. 


No.  379] 


POPE  PELAGIUS  I  41 


from  the  Faith  of  Pope  Leo,  solemnly  ratified  by  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon,  even  though  they  detract  from  it  but  to  the  extent  of 
one  word  or  syllable.  .  .  .  Your  zeal  for  the  Faith  and  your  love 
of  Unity  are  too  great  to  be  moved  by  any  evil  rumours  or  imper- 
tinent documents.  Here  [in  Italy]  a  few  half-educated  Bishops, 
men  ignorant  of  the  first  elements  of  Faith,  have  indeed  wandered 
so  far  astray  as  to  refuse  to  listen  to  reason.  They  have  forgotten 
how  profitable  is  steadfastness  in  the  Catholic  Faith."1 

Pelagius,  with  his  practised  eye,  saw  how  advantageous  it  was 
to  lay  doubts  to  rest  and  pacify  the  separatists  by  such  general 
assurances.  Without  trenching  on  the  highly  involved  and 
dangerous  question  of  the  Three  Chapters,  he  simply  declared 
his  position  to  be  that  of  Leo  and  of  the  Fathers  of  Chalcedon. 
He  also  asked  no  more  from  the  other  side  than  that  they  should 
give  proof  of  their  union  with  the  Holy  See  and  submission  to 
the  Pope,  i.e.  he  demanded  merely  an  indirect  acceptance  of  the 
Council  and  of  its  condemnation  of  the  Three  Chapters.  The 
suppression  of  the  controversy  and  the  silent  acceptance  of  the 
decision,  manifested  by  union  with  Rome,  was  indeed  the  best 
way  out  of  the  difficulty.  What  possible  advantage  could  have 
accrued  either  to  peace  or  to  truth  by  once  more  stirring  up  the 
old,  and,  to  Western  minds,  scarcely  intelligible  controversies 
regarding  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  Ibas,  and  Theodoret  ?  It 
was  a  mercy  for  all  that  they  were  at  last  safely  put  to  rest.  The 
following  Popes,  in  their  efforts  to  end  the  schism,  rightly  kept  to 
this  same  line  of  conduct. 

In  the  argument  he  uses  in  endeavouring  to  induce  his 
opponents  to  submit,  Pelagius  points  out  that  to  the  Pope  alone 
were  the  keys  given,  and  that  the  Church  must  be  sought  for 
in  him  ;  in  so  many  words,  he  lays  it  down  that  the  authority  of 
his  See  includes  that  of  the  other  Apostolic  Sees.2 

This  last  emphatic  utterance  shows  in  what  sense  must  be 

1  Ibid.  He  does  not  fail  to  allude  to  the  trial  he  had  to  endure  in  Constantinople. 
Duchesne  is,  however,  not  fair  to  Pelagius  in  making  him  ascribe  his  sufferings  to  the 
defenders  of  the  "  Constitutum,"  i.e.  to  the  present  schismatics  of  Milan  and  Aquileia;  cp. 
Duchesne,  ibid.,  p.  436. 

2  In  a  letter  recently  brought  to  light  in  the  British  collection,  Pelagius,  writing  to  a 
bishop,  speaks  as  follows  of  the  need  of  communion  with  the  successor  of  Peter  (ed. 
LoweNFELD,  Epist.  rom.  pont.,  p.  15,  n.  28):  "  Adeone  te  in  summo  sacerdotii  gradu 
positum  catholicae  fcfcllit  Veritas  matris,  lit  non  statim  scismaticum  te  conspiceres,  cum  a 
sedibus  apostolic  is  recessisses?  Adeone  pop 11 lis  ad  praedicandum  posit  us  non  legeras, 
super  apostolorum  principcm  a  Cliristo  Deo  nostro  ecclesiam  esse  fundatam,  et  ita  fun- 
datam,  ut  portae  adversus  ipsam  injeri  praevalere  non  possunt?     Quod  si  legeras, 


42 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  379 


understood  the  occasional  appeals  of  Pelagius  and  his  successors 
against  their  adversaries  to  the  agreement  of  the  other  Apostolic 
Sees.  They  do  not  lessen  thereby,  as  has  been  alleged,  the 
decisiveness  of  their  own  judgment ;  they  merely  enhance  their 
own  authority  with  the  dignity  attaching  to  the  other  honoured 
Sees  in  order  the  more  easily  to  secure  the  submission  of  their 
antagonists. 

His  former  writings  against  Vigilius,  nevertheless,  continued 
to  cause  the  Pope  many  hours  of  anxiety.  Recently  discovered 
documents  show  how,  in  his  own  circle  of  friends,  he  spoke  of  his 
past.  The  so-called  British  collection  of  Papal  letters,  which 
came  to  light  not  long  ago,  contains  a  letter  from  Pelagius  to 
Sapaudus,  Archbishop  of  Aries,  which  may  well  be  quoted  here. 
He  says  :  "  How  can  the  other  side  blame  me  for  a  letter  which 
I  wrote  after  the  Council,  when  I  was  still  in  doubt  which  side  to 
take,  and  which  does  not  pretend  to  be  a  decision  but  merely 
to  express  a  doubt  ?  When  I  wrote  it  my  status  (as  deacon)  was 
such  that,  even  had  I  wished  to  make  decisions,  I  should  have 
been  under  the  obligation  of  submitting  them  to  the  judgment  of 
so  many  Bishops.  .  .  .  Nor  are  my  opponents  aware  how  much 
it  cost  me  when  at  last  my  firm  conviction  led  me  to  accept  the 
wholesome  judgment,  and  how  much  I  had  to  suffer  then  from 
the  other  side  on  account  of  my  previous  indiscretion.  Ought  I 
then  to  have  hardened  myself  for  ever  against  the  truth  because, 
forsooth,  from  ignorance  for  a  while  I  held  other  views  ?  "  1 

In  his  difficulty  he  quotes  St.  Cyprian's  allusion  to  St.  Peter, 
who,  in  the  dispute  at  Antioch,  had  also  been  led  by  St.  Paul 
to  alter  his  views.  He  recalls  the  harmony  now  existing  among 
the  Bishops  throughout  the  East,  Illyricum,  and  Africa,  many  of 
whom  had  once  thought  differently  ;  he  is  now,  so  he  writes,  in 
receipt  of  Acts  of  Councils  held  in  Africa  and  Illyricum,  which 
bear  witness  that  all  agree  in  the  judgment  pronounced  and  are 

ubinam  praeter  ipsum  esse  credebas  ecclesiam,  in  quo  uno  omnes  scilicet  apostolicae 
sedes  sunt?  Quibus  pariter  sicui  Mi,  qui  cloves  acceperat,  ligandi  solvendique  potestas 
indulta  est  f  Sed  idcirco  uni  primum  quod  daturus  erat,  etiam  in  omnibus  dcdit,  ut 
secundum  beati  Cipriani  martiris  id  ipsum  exponentis  sententiam  una  esse  monstretur 
ecclesia.  Quo  ergo  tu,  carissime  tarn  in  Christo,  ab  ista  divisus  errabas,  vel  quam  salutis 
tuae  tcncbas  spent  ?  " 

1  Neues  Archiv,  5  (1880),  536;  A/on.  Germ,  /list,  Epist.,  3,  442.  It  is  worthy  of 
notice  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  above-cited  text  the  expression  " generate  concilium" 
is  used  of  the  disputed  Council  of  Constantinople.  The  "letter"  to  which  reference  is 
made  is  probably  the  dedicatory  epistle  of  one  of  the  two  works  mentioned  above  on 
p.  36,  note  1. 


No.  381] 


ROME'S  DESOLATION 


43 


in  unity  with  the  Church.  He  would,  therefore,  fain  say  with 
Augustine,  of  the  alteration  in  his  opinion  :  "  I  would  rather  blame 
myself,  than,  at  the  expense  of  truth,  stick  to  what  I  have  once 
said."  Just  as  his  Retractations  did  honour  to  Augustine,  so  he 
(Pelagius)  saw  no  disgrace  in  his.  The  newly  discovered  texts 
thus  show  the  history  of  Pelagius  in  a  different  and  more  favour- 
able light  than  that  in  which  some  had  been  disposed  to  regard  it. 
Pelagius  extricated  himself  quite  honourably  from  his  awkward 
predicament,  and  his  acceptance  as  Pope  of  the  decree  of  Constan- 
tinople was  certainly  no  mere  act  of  hypocrisy. 

.380.  The  Pope  frequently  had  recourse  to  Sapaudus  concern- 
ing church  affairs  in  Gaul.  He  advanced  him  to  the  rank  of 
Apostolic  Vicar  for  the  kingdom  of  Childebert,  a  post  which  was 
in  keeping  with  privileges  attaching  to  the  See  of  Aries.  Through 
Sapaudus  he  also  sought  to  influence  the  King's  attitude  towards 
the  Church  and  to  remove  certain  abuses  prevalent  among  the 
Franks.  In  an  encyclical  addressed  to  the  Bishops,  he  urged 
them  to  keep  to  the  laws  of  the  Church,  which  forbid  the  too 
rapid  promotion  of  clerics  ;  a  case  had  occurred  there  of  a  layman 
receiving  every  order,  episcopal  consecration  included,  on  a  single 
day.  Pelagius  also  dealt  severely  with  certain  relics  of  Paganism 
remaining  in  those  regions.1 

If  intercourse  between  the  Frankish  countries  and  Rome  was 
less  frequent  than  of  yore,  this  was  because  it  was  hindered  by 
political  circumstances.  "  Constant  warfare  made  communication 
difficult  between  the  various  countries,  and  everywhere  hampered 
church  government. 

Italy  and  Rome  after  the  Gothic  War 

381.  Many  pages  of  the  correspondence  of  Pelagius  with 
Archbishop  Sapaudus  of  Aries  contain  vivid  reminders  of  the 
long  Gothic  struggle  and  of  the  wars  which  afterward  ravaged 
Italy,  and  for  which  the  Franks  were  largely  responsible.  "  Such 
is  Rome's  poverty  and  want,"  he  laments,  "  that  it  is  painful  to 
behold  ;  people  of  high  rank  are  reduced  to  beggary.  The  estates 
(of  the  Roman  Church)  in  Italy  are  almost  all  laid  waste,  or  else 

1  See  the  letter  regarding  the  Apostolic  Vicariate  of  Aries,  dated  February  3,  557,  in 
Moil.  Germ,  hist.,  Efiist.,  3,  73  ;  P.L.,  LXIV.,  405  ff.  Letter  concerning  irregular  ordi- 
nations and  Pagan  remains  in  Gaul,  in  Mon.  Germ,  hist.,  ibid.,  442 ;  J affe-Kaltenbr.,  978. 


44 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  381 


have  been  lost  to  us  by  alienation."  As  the  Holy  See  held  estates 
in  Southern  Gaul,  of  which  the  steward  was  Placidus  the  patrician, 
the  father  of  Sapaudus,  the  Pope  begged  that  the  revenues  there- 
from might  be  exchanged  for  useful  things  and  sent  by  a  safe 
way  to  Rome.  For  instance,  he  proposes  that  with  the  money 
clothing  should  be  bought,  "  white  tunics,  cowls,  or  colobia,  or 
whatever  else  was  produced  in  Provence." 1 

After  the  fall  of  the  Gothic  kingdom  innumerable  hordes 
of  barbarians  from  the  north  had  poured  into  defenceless 
Italy.  They  were  mostly  Alemanni  and  Franks,  under  the 
leadership  of  Leutharis  and  Butilin.  This  was  no  war,  but  an 
inundation,  which,  in  its  wild  course,  destroyed  all  it  could,  and 
carried  away  whatever  had  remained  over  after  the  fearful  struggle 
between  Byzantine  and  Goth.  Pestilence,  too,  followed  close  on 
the  heels  of  these  nations  in  migration. 

The  plague  struck  down  Leutharis  and  many  of  his  people 
as  they  were  returning  from  Italy  in  the  autumn  of  554. 
Butilin's  bands  were  cut  to  pieces  by  Narses  in  the  plains  of 
Capua.  Such  was  the  fury  of  this  last  encounter  with  barbarians 
laden  with  the  spoils  of  Southern  Italy,  that  few  indeed  escaped 
death  by  the  sword  or  arrow.  The  historian  Agathias  even 
opined  that  Narses  had  gained  a  victory  to  be  compared  with 
those  of  Marathon  and  Salamis.  We  are  not  told  that  the  City 
of  Rome  was  actually  attacked  during  this  invasion,  but  we  can 
well  understand  how  the  author  of  the  contemporary  biographies 
in  the  Liber  pontijicalis,  writing  in  Rome,  could  say  of  the 
victory  that  "  all  Italy  was  jubilant  over  it."  Another  writer 
gives  expression  to  the  same  feeling  of  gladsome  relief  as 
follows  :  "  The  patrician  Narses  has  given  the  country  back  to 
the  Roman  Empire ;  he  has  restored  the  ravaged  cities,  and, 
after  driving  out  the  Goths,  has  brought  back  Italy  to  her 
former  joy." 2 

It  is,  however,  difficult  to  perceive  what  joy  there  was  in 
merely  seeing  the  bare  and  desolate  plains  of  Italy  once  more 
change  owners,  without  any  sure  pledge  for  a  better  future. 

In   spite   of  the   safety   of  the   country  and   of  its  fresh 

1  Epp.  ad  Sapaudum,  Mansi,  9,  724,  727  ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  943,  947,  dated  556 
and  5  57. 

2  Liber  pout.,  1,  305,  IoJiannes  III.,  n.  110  :  11  e rat  enim  tota  Italia  gaudens."  Pros- 
peri  Aquit.  Continnator  Havniensis,  ed.  MOMMSEN  (A/on.  Germ.  Just.,  Auctt.  antiq.,  9 
ad  h.  an.). 


No.  381] 


ROME'S  DESOLATION 


45 


annexation  to  the  Roman  Empire,  its  state  remained  one  of 
misery.  Procopius  professes  to  be  unable  to  estimate  the 
number  of  human  lives  which  the  whole  war  had  cost.  He 
even  speaks  of  millions,  though,  of  course,  he  exaggerates. 
Lack  of  cultivation,  an  evil  from  which  Italy  had  suffered 
even  previously,  must  now  have  made  itself  felt  even  more, 
and  such  places  as  were  still  inhabited  mourned  amidst  the 
accumulating  ruins.  Very  many  fortified  cities  and  castles, 
whither  the  defenceless  population  had  fled  for  refuge,  showed 
in  their  walls  the  experience  they  had  undergone  at  the  hands 
of  the  Goths,  or  the  traces  of  the  siege-engines  of  the 
Byzantines.  The  piles  of  ruins  left  behind  them  by  both 
armies  throughout  the  whole  country,  remained  long  after  to 
attest  to  the  ferocity  of  the  war. 

It  was  at  that  period  that  the  Campagna  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Rome  took  on  that  solemn  garb  of  mourning,  of 
which,  to  this  day,  it  has  not  divested  itself.  The  whole  tract 
seems  still  to  weep  over  the  downfall  of  that  ancient  civilisation 
which  once  covered  it  with  life  and  bloom.  Ever  since,  these 
hills  and  plains  have  lacked  settlers,  though  the  Campagna, 
more  than  any  other  region,  always  required1  the  sturdy  hands  of 
colonists  in  great  number.  The  thin  crust  of  earth  spread  over 
volcanic  rock  or  sand,  and  the  unfavourable  climate,  demanded 
far  more  labour  here  than  elsewhere  in  order  to  win  from  the 
soil  the  fruits  of  husbandry.  Irrigation,  too,  now  came  to  an 
end,  for  the  ancient  aqueducts  had,  almost  all,  been  broken 
down,  and  who  could  think  of  restoring  them  amid  the  universal 
distress  ?  The  water  which  ceaselessly  flowed  from  them  sought 
out  fresh  channels  for  itself,  working-  havoc  among  the  former 
gardens  and  pastures,  to  say  nothing  of  the  fever-laden  air 
produced  by  the  stagnant  pools. 

The  population  of  Rome  must  by  that  time  have  been 
reduced  to  exiguous  proportions,  at  least  in  comparison  with 
the  quondam  multitude  of  citizens  and  patricians  who  composed 
the  people  of  the  Ouirites  and  the  huge  crowd  of  slaves  by 
whom  they  were  served.  No  other  period  of  stress  had  ever 
brought  the  inhabitants  so  low  in  point  both  of  number  and 
of  wealth.  What  irony  to  see  the  Senatus  Popiilusque  Romanus 
established  in  stint  and  shame  amidst  the  still-standing  monu- 
mental  splendours  of  the  whilom  mistress  of  nations.  The 


46 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  381 


Forums  and  Thermae,  the  mansions  and  porticoes,  retained  in 
their  neglect  their  colossal  grandeur  ;  but  they  were  now  the 
dwelling  of  a  famished  crowd,  among  which  were  vast  numbers 
of  gentry  now  reduced  to  beggary  and  forced  to  seek  consola- 
tion, hope,  and  even  their  daily  bread,  at  the  deaconries,  the 
basilicas,  and  the  monasteries. 

But  sparse  mention  of  senatorial  families  henceforth  occurs 
among  the  inscriptions  of  Rome  and  in  historical  notices. 
Numbers  of  noble  families  not  yet  entirely  extinct  were  either 
with  the  Court  at  Constantinople,  or  living  on  their  ancestral 
estates  in  Sicily. 

The  Roman  Senate  continued  a  nominal  existence  for  a 
little  while  longer,  under  the  presidency  of  the  Praefecttis 
urbi;  yet,  after  579,  it  is  never  once  alluded  to  in  historical 
sources.  In  that  year  an  embassy  went  in  the  name  of  the 
"  Senate  "  to  seek  help  at  Constantinople  ;  it  is  very  significant 
that  this  was,  at  the  same  time,,  an  embassy  from  the  Pope. 
Quite  evidently  the  power  of  the  Senate  was  gradually  being 
merged  in  that  of  the  Church.1 

Agnellus,  the  writer  of  the  history  of  the  Bishops  of 
Ravenna,  looked  on  the  end  of  the  Senate  as  the  consumma- 
tion of  the  downfall  of  the  ancient  grandeur  of  Rome.  Speaking 
of  the  calamity  of  the  Gothic  War,  he  says  :  "  The  Senate  of 
the  Romans  gradually  disappeared,  and  then  the  freedom  of 
Rome  was  abolished."  2 

Did  we  seek  a  turning-point  when  ancient  life  expired  in 
Rome,  none  better  could  be  found  than  the  second  half  of 
the  sixth  century,  with  the  distress  which  ensued  after  the 
Gothic  War.  In  all  the  customs  and  habits  of  life,  both 
private  and  public,  so  profound  were  the  alterations  that  took 
place,  that  Roman  civilisation  received  its  death-blow.  More- 
over, a  general  political  convulsion  was  impending  in  Italy 
through  the  Lombard  invasion.  A  new  world,  so  to  speak, 
was  about  to  come  into  being  in  Italy.  The  olden  civilisation 
was  collapsing ;  learning  and  art  were  face  to  face  with  ruin. 

1  The  embassy  is  reported  in  the  fragment  of  Menander  Protector  :  Excerpta 
de  legation,  ad gentes,  n.  25  ;  E.G.,  CXI  1 1.,  835.  On  the  Senate,  see  Ch.  DiEHL,  Etudes 
sur  F  administration  byzantine  dans  Fexarchat  de  Ravenne  (568-751),  ii.  ch.  4,  p.  124  ff. 
Hart.MANN,  Byzantinisc/ie  Verwaltimg,  p.  44. 

2  Agnellus,  Liber  pont.  eecl.  ravenn.,  Petrus  sen.,  n.  95 ;  ed.  Holder-Egger, 
P-  338. 


No.  382] 


BYZANTINE  RULE 


47 


In  this  extremity  the  Bishops  and  the  Popes  took  the  human 
race  under  their  protection,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  flood  of 
barbarism  the  monasteries  became  the  last  shelters  for  study, 
homes  where  strength  could  be  sought  for  the  struggle  against 
the  universal  decay. 

382.  In  his  plaint  over  the  sad  fate  of  the  Senate,  Agnellus 
lamented  that  an  end  was  made  of  the  freedom  of  Rome. 
Though  Agnellus  can  scarcely  have  meant  his  words  to  be 
taken  so  literally,  it  is  a  fact  that  what  the  Byzantines  set 
up  in  place  of  Gothic  rule  was  no  freedom,  but  rather  the 
reverse. 

Byzantine  government  tended  to  curtail  free  individual 
action  and  to  introduce  the  system  of  serfdom.  We  should 
not  be  far  from  the  truth  in  saying  that,  on  the  contrary, 
true  freedom  had  its  home  among  the  Goths.  That  the  Goths 
had  to  yield  to  the  Byzantines  was  not  because  their  political 
institutions  were  devoid  of  freedom  and  freshness,  for  in  this 
respect  they  far  excelled  the  Byzantines.  The  real  reason 
why  their  rising  kingdom  was  crushed  so  promptly  was  due 
to  the  estrangement  of  the  Latin  population  in  Italy.  The 
Goths  failed  to  take  any  root  in  the  country,  and  their  king- 
dom remained  a  warrior-state,  composed  of  aliens.  Principally 
on  account  of  their  difference  in  faith,  the  natives  refused  to  be 
on  friendly  terms  with  the  Goths,  and  thus  it  came  about  that 
this  strong,  free  nation  was  isolated  and  deprived  of  all  support. 
It  was  because  of  their  heresy  that  they  fell,  and  it  was  a 
blessing  for  Italy  that  Arianism  disappeared  with  them. 

Unhappily,  however,  the  advent  of  the  Byzantines  brought 
despotism  instead  of  Arianism,  and,  in  place  of  an  out- 
worn religion,  the  bureaucracy  of  a  State,  already  in  many 
respects  rotten,  became  the  object  of  aversion  for  the  Latin 
population. 

In  the  Byzantine  state-system  of  that  day  the  lead  was  taken 
by  a  few  privileged  individuals,  who  ruled  everything  at  the 
expense  of  private  initiative,  and  at  the  same  time  claimed  every 
benefice  for  themselves  ;  they  enriched  themselves  and  oppressed 
the  weak.  Although,  under  Justinian,  law  was  much  studied,  the 
actual  administration  of  justice  was  often  very  lax.  Nor  were 
legislators  successful  in  making  the  necessary  allowances  ;  for 


48 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  383 


instance,  they  failed  to  adapt  their  laws  to  the  requirements  of 
the  Germanic  States  conquered  by  Byzantium.1 

383.  In  spite  of  all  this  some  gratifying  changes  may  be  noted 
in  Rome  and  Italy  during  the  reaction  which  followed  the  Gothic 
wars.  Many  towns  were  rebuilt,  and  the  roads  once  again  were 
thrown  open  to  travellers.  What  is  more,  the  new  laws  embodied  in 
the  Pragmatic  Sanction  prepared  fresh  openings  for  the  Church, 
making  it  possible  for  her  to  help  in  healing  moral,  social,  and 
political  evils.  Finally,  in  the  more  exclusive  domain  of  the 
Church,  as  we  shall  see,  a  cheering  progress  is  observable  at  head- 
quarters, affecting  even  the  liturgy. 

It  was  due  to  the  foresight  of  Narses,  the  Byzantine  com- 
mander-in-chief, that  in  the  days  of  peace  many  ruined  strongholds 
and  castles  were  again  rebuilt.  He  also  restored  the  walls  and 
gates  of  Rome,  so  far  as  this  was  necessary.  The  Greek  Cross, 
which,  as  already  stated,  is  still  visible  upon  the  key-stone  of 
certain  Roman  gateways  (see  vol.  ii.,  111.  163),  also  shows  that  Rome 
was  then  reincorporated  in  an  orthodox  Empire,  whose  hope  was 
in  the  Cross.  Beneath  this  sign  of  the  Cross  the  ancient  City  Wall 
will  sustain  the  shock  of  the  Lombards.  Obedient  to  the  Cross, 
the  Byzantine  power  will  rule  over  the  City  for  yet  two  hundred 
years,  though  its  sway  will  become  more  and  more  merely  nominal. 
Only  then  will  its  rule  pass  away  when  the  time  comes  for  it  to 
take  the  side  of  the  Iconoclasts  against  the  true  religion  of  the 
Cross. 

Such  a  Greek  Cross,  as  those  spoken  of  above,  was  also  placed 
upon  the  bridge  over  the  Anio  on  the  Salarian  Way  (111.  175). 
This  was  a  fine  structure  which  Narses  rebuilt  in  565,  after  it 
had  been  destroyed  by  Totila.  The  bridge  displays  this  Cross 
upon  the  corner  pilasters  of  the  parapet.  A  couple  of  these  stones 
with  their  crosses  still  exist,  though  the  ancient  bridge  itself  has 
passed  away,  and  been  replaced  by  a  new  one.2 

1  DlEHL,  Administratio?i  byzantine,  p.  367  :  "  Le  regime  administratif  pesait  lourde- 
ment  sur  les  villes  et  sur  les  provinces."    HARTMANN,  Byzant.  Verwalt.,  p.  3  ff. 

2  See  vol.  ii.  p.  332,  note.  A  sketch  in  D'AGINCOURT  {Storia  delP  arte,  Architettiira, 
PI.  19)  was  fortunately  made  by  him  before  the  first  partial  destruction  of  the  bridge  by 
the  Neapolitans  in  1798,  when  retreating  before  the  Republicans.  Since  1798  the 
inscriptions  mentioned  in  the  text  have  lain  in  the  bed  of  the  river.  The  restored 
bridge  was  blown  up  by  the  Papal  troops  in  1866,  on  the  approach  of  Garibaldi's  army. 
As  late  as  1870  I  saw  the  ruins  myself.  Later  on  it  was  rebuilt  in  modern  style;  the 
ancient  fragments  of  decoration,  except  those  in  the  river  bed,  are  still  lying  about. 
Our  Illustration  175  supplements  dAgincourt's  .sketch  with  the  help  of  the  remains. 
For  the  other  notices,  cp.  Nibby,  Confomi  di  Roma,  2,  593  ff. 


no.384]  JUSTINIAN'S  PRAGMATICA 


From  old  copies  we  also  know  the  wording  of  the  two  Latin 
inscriptions  which  Narses  set  up  in  the  centre  of  the  bridge,  on 
the  inner  side  of  either  parapet.  Both  are  at  present  buried  in 
the  river-bed,  where  they  live  on  under  the  turbulent  waters  of 
the  Anio,  like  the  brave  deeds  of  Narses  in  history.   One  of  them, 

headed  by  the  monogram  of  Christ  .j?,  told  how  Narses  "  had 
routed  the  kings  of  the  Goths  with  wonderful  promptitude,  and 
restored  freedom  to  the  City  of  Rome  and  the  whole  of  Italy  "  ; 
and  how  he  had  "restored  the  structure  of  the  bridge  destroyed 
by  the  tyrant  Totila  to  greater  beauty  than  before."  In  the 
inscription  he  is  styled  :  ''Narses  vir  gloriosissinitis,  expraeposito 
sacri  palatii^  excons.  atque  patricius" 

On  the  parapet  on  the  opposite  side  a  passer-by  could  have 
read  the  other  inscription,  a  well-turned  and,  for  the  period,  grace- 
fully composed  poem  of  four  distichs.  Above  the  murmuring 
stream,  says  the  poet,  Narses  has  once  more  re-established  the 
stone  roadway  ;  he  who  bent  the  stiff  neck  of  the  Goths,  also 
made  the  mighty  river  pass  under  the  yoke  of  the  bridge.1 


The  Pragmatic  Sanction  for  Italy. — Growth  in  the 
Influence  of  the  Bishops  and  Pope 

384.  The  legal  re-arrangement  which  had  been  introduced 
into  Italy  by  means  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  might  have  suc- 
ceeded even  better  had  it  been  carried  out  by  those  in  power. 
According  to  what  we  know  of  its  articles,  they  first  laid  it  down 
as  a  principle  that  the  Imperial  code  should  hold  in  Italy  as  else- 
where. Further  they  enacted,  to  the  advantage  of  both  Church 
and  country,  that  the  election  of  governors  in  each  province 
{provinciarum  indices)  should  be  conducted  by  the  Bishops  and 
provincial  magnates  in  joint  session  ;  also  that  the  Bishop  was  to 

1  The  inscriptions  in  de  Rossi,  Inscr.  c/irist.,  2,  1,  18,  n.  1  and  2  (from  the  Einsicdl- 
ensis);  in  the  Corpus  inscr.  lat.,  VI.,  n.  1 199.  The  poem  begins  :  "  Quant  bene  curbati 
directa  est  scinita  po litis.  .  .  .  Calcamus  rapid/is  subiecti gurgitis  u?tdas,"  &c.  Upon  the 
Cestian  Tiber  bridge  in  Rome  we  may  see,  on  the  inner  side  of  the  parapet,  in  a  similar 
position,  the  inscription  to  Gratian,  Valentinian,  and  Valens,  which  was  formerly  repeated 
opposite,  probably  in  the  same  words.  Monumental  reminiscences  of  Narses  are  rare. 
De  Rossi  writes  in  the  Bull.  arch,  crist.  on  one  of  his  daughters,  and  there  mentions  a 
fragment  of  an  historical  inscription  relating  to  the  Via  Salaria,  and  which  contains 
Narses's  name.  Garrucci  (Sloria  dell'  arte,  6,  74)  believes  Narses  to  be  represented  in 
military  dress,  bearing  a  Victoria  to  the  Emperor  Justinian  on  an  ivory  tablet  in  the 
Barberini  Museum,  which,  however,  he  does  not  reproduce.  He  is  probably  alluding  to 
the  figure  on  the  left  of  our  Illustration  178. 

VOL.  III.  D 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  3s4 


have  a  say  in  the  choice  of  city  officials  ;  likewise  that  the  Bishop 
and  leading  citizens  were  to  audit  the  accounts  of  officials  who 
retired  ;  that  he  was  to  report  to  the  Emperor  any  ordinary  judge 
who  refused  to  render  justice  ;  that  he  could  claim  a  joint  right 
to  try  any  case  when  the  judge's  impartiality  had  been  impugned 
by  either  side  ;  finally,  that  he  was  to  decide  between  the  governor 
himself  and  such  subjects  as  might  consider  they  had  been  wronged 
by  him. 

Such  enactments  meant  that  the  Church  received  a  sort  of 
oversight  over  the  officials  of  the  State.1 

The  State  decided  on  thus  including  the  Church  in  the  system 
of  government,  not  only  out  of  regard  for  the  actual  position, 
wealth,  and  property  of  the  bishops  who,  even  previously, 
had  exercised  great  influence  over  civil  affairs,  chiefly  owing  to 
the  power  which  came  from  the  landed  property  conferred  on 
them.  The  Eastern  autocrats  were  moved  by  two  other  con- 
siderations ;  by  their  consciousness  of  the  great  moral  weight  of 
the  bishops  and  the  social  power  of  religion  ;  by  their  knowledge 
of  the  corruption  rampant  among  the  officials,  and  their  certainty 
that  it  would  be  hopeless  to  dream  of  extirpating  bribery  and 
oppression  without  the  help  of  some  authority  guided  by  loftier 
principles,  and  above  bureaucratic  influence.2 

We  must  also  remember  that  the  civil  and  military  authorities, 
owing  to  the  lack  of  public  funds,  or  to  incapable  administration, 
often  stood  helpless  and  without  resource  when  cities  and  whole 
provinces  were  in  the  direst  need.  In  such  cases  the  bishops 
were  wont  to  intervene.  In  this  wise,  in  most  of  the  cities,  a 
large  part  of  the  administration  had,  little  by  little,  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  bishops.  Among  such  bishops  who  thus  saw 
their  influence  increase,  the  Bishop  of  Rome  was  certainly  not  the 
last. 

Seeing  that  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  gave  such  powers  to  the 
bishops,  we  shall  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  it  also  acknow- 
ledged their  right  to  exercise  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction.  Com- 
plaints against  clerics  and  monks  were  to  be  tried  before  the 

1  The  best  edition  of  the  so-called  Pragmatic  Sanction  (which  is,  however,  not  the 
original  law,  but  a  series  of  decrees  designed  to  supplement  it)  is  by  ZACHARIAE  VON 
LlNGENTHAL,  in  his  edition  of  the  Novcllac  of  Justinian  (Lips.,  1881 ;  Teubner),  2,  354  ff. 
Election  of  the  " provinciarum  indices"  c.  12,  p.  359. 

*  Hegel,  Gesch.  der  Stiidteverfassimg  in  Italien,  1,  138  ff.  ;  Malfatti,  Impa-atori  e 
papi  at  tempi  della  signoria  dei  Franchi  in  Italia,  1,  137  ff.  ;  DlEHL,  p.  369  ff.  ;  H  ART- 
MANN,  p.  50. 


no.3s5]  JUSTINIAN'S  PRAGMATICA  51 

bishop.  As  in  the  Eastern  half  of  the  Empire,  the  secular  arm 
was  ready  to  execute  the  sentence  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts. 
The  defensores  of  the  Roman  Church,  acting  as  the  standing 
representatives  of  the  Popes,  tried  charges  against  bishops  quite 
independently  of  the  State.  At  first  in  criminal  cases  the  clergy 
could  claim  ecclesiastical  immunity  only  for  trifling  offences  ;  in 
more  serious  cases,  after  having  been  deposed  and  degraded  by 
the  church  authorities,  they  were  handed  over  for  punishment 
to  the  secular  court.  But,  towards  the  end  of  the  sixth  century, 
even  this  intervention  of  the  State  ceased,  and  the  Church,  acting 
alone,  imposed  on  the  clerical  evil-doer  a  more  or  less  heavy 
penance  accompanied  by  imprisonment  which  sometimes  lasted 
for  life  ;  it  was  then  laid  down  as  an  axiom  that  secular  judges 
have  no  competence  in  matters  concerning  the  Church  alone.1 

Nor  were  the  denizens  of  the  cloisters  forgotten  in  the  decrees 
supplementing  the  Pragmatic  Sanction.  The  revolutions  and 
sacks  had  led  to  the  violation  of  many  a  vow.  Hence  a  decree 
which  runs  :  "  Consecrated  virgins,  and  all  persons  of  the  female 
sex,  who  having  been  vested  with  the  religious  habit,  have  never- 
theless been  taken  in  marriage,  must  again  return  to  their  convent, 
or  church,  or  to  the  religious  situation  they  formerly  held."2 

385.  The  new  law  insured  to  the  City  of  Rome  all  her  previous 
privileges  and  immunities ;  it  also  confirmed  the  existing  regula- 
tions and  grants  for  the  repair  of  classical  buildings,  for  the 
Tiber-bed,  for  the  market  and  harbour  of  the  City,  and  for  the 
aqueducts.  Public  distribution  of  food  was  to  take  place  as  under 
Theodoric,  and  as  had  been  provided  for  by  Justinian.  Similarly 
the  usual  grants  were  to  be  made  to  "grammarians,  orators, 
physicians,  and  lawyers — so  that,"  as  the  wording  runs,  "a  well- 
taught  new  generation  may  flourish  in  the  State,"  and  that,  in 
fine,  "every  one  may  taste  the  happiness  of  our  time." 3 

The  "eternity"  of  the  Emperor  (a  classic  curial  formula  in 
vogue  since  heathen  times)  in  the  "  divine  "  Pragmatic  Sanction 
also  gave  directions  respecting  the  coinage,  and  the  standard 
weights  and  measures.  We  are  informed  that  the  Emperor  has 
given  orders  to  this  effect  to  both  the  Pope  and  the  Senate,  who 

1  Hartmann,  p.  48. 

2  Novellae,  ed.  Zachariae,  1.  c.  c.  17. 

3  For  the  privileges,  ibid.,  c.  25  ;  the  annona,  c.  22.  "  Ut  undiqiie  nostri  teviporis 
possint feliutatem  sentire"  (c.  14). 


52  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.385 

are  thus  created  guardians  of  the  coins,  weights,  and  measures, 
that  thereby  nothing  may  be  done  to  the  detriment  of  the  provinces. 
Other  laws  of  Justinian  expressly  speak  of  the  Church  as  the 
authority  appointed  to  safeguard  the  legal  standards  of  weight 
and  measure.1 

These  standards  were  to  be  kept  in  the  principal  church  of 
each  town,  and  to  them  all  weights  and  measures  used  in  business 
were  to  be  adjusted,  whether  they  were  for  civic,  military,  or 
Government  use.  This  custom  of  the  Christian  Empire  tallied 
with  one  already  existing  in  heathen  times,  for,  in  classical  anti- 
quity, the  official  standard  weights  and  measures  were  placed 
under  the  protection  of  the  temples  of  the  gods.  In  Rome  they 
were  kept  in  the  temple  of  Capitoline  Jove  and  accredited  copies, 
duly  stamped,  were  held  ready  in  other  temples — such  as  those  of 
the  Dioscuri,  of  Mars  Ultor  and  of  Ops — for  comparison  with  the 
weights  and  measures  in  use.2 

We  have  many  weights  of  ancient  Rome  (111.  176,  1 77)  3  fre- 
quently of  black  stone,  and  usually  of  circular  shape,  flattened  at 
the  top  and  bottom.  They  weigh  from  ten  to  a  hundred  pounds, 
counting  the  Roman  pound  as  twelve  ounces,  or  327.45  grammes. 
Many  of  these  stone-weights  bear  the  number  of  pounds  chiselled 
upon  them,  and  still  have  their  handles,  or  at  least  the  holes  into 
which  the  handle  was  fixed  with  lead  ;  a  few  even  have  the  hall- 
mark introduced  in  167  by  Junius  Rusticus.4 

In  the  churches  of  Rome  and  in  other  places  various  weights 
of  this  kind  are  exhibited,  the  common  people  accounting  them  as 
stones  used  in  the  martyrdom  of  the  early  Christians  (see  vol.  ii. 

1  Pragmatic  Sanction,  c.  19  :  "  Iubemus  in  illis  mensuris  vcl  ponderibus  species  vel 
pccunias  dari  vel  suscipi,  quae  bcatissimo  papae  vel  amplissimo  scnatui  nostra  pietas  in 
praesenti  contradidit."  Cp.  Authent.  Collat.,  IX.,  tit.  11,  c.  15  :  " Praecipimus  .  .  .  has 
mensuras  el  pondera  hi  sanctissima  uniuscuiusque  civitatis  ecclesia  servari,  ut  secundum 
ea  el  gravamen  collalorum  el  fiscalium  illatio  el  miliiares  ct  aliae  cxpensac plant." 

2  Lanciani,  Pagan  and  Christian  Nome,  p.  38. 

3  Sketch  by  Tabanelli.  Nos.  1  and  2  show  stones  preserved  in  the  church  of  Sta. 
Maria  at  Galeria,  near  Rome.  No.  1,  a  three-pound  weight,  still  shows  the  number  ; 
in  No.  2  the  figure  ten  has  been  added  by  Tabanelli.  Nos.  3  and  4  are  from  Gatti, 
Antichi pesi  inscritti  del  museo  capitolino  {Bull.  arch,  com.,  1884,  pp.  61  ff.,  105  ff.,  PI.  6, 
7).  No.  3,  which  is  also  a  ten-pound  weight,  or  decapondium,  bears  the  inscription  :  "  Ex 
auc\toritate~\  Q[uinti"]  Iuni  Rustici  praefecti  urb[i]."  No.  4,  a  twenty-pound  weight, 
seems  according  to  its  inscription  to  have  belonged  to  G[aius?]  Mar[cius?]  Art[emas?]. 
On  it  may  be  seen  the  holes  for  fixing  the  handle,  the  lead  having  disappeared.  In  the 
Capitoline  Museum  alone  there  are  more  than  one  hundred  weights  of  this  sort  (Gatti, 
p.  68).  In  Sta.  Maria  in  Trastevere,  in  a  hollow  in  the  right  aisle,  may  be  seen  a  collec- 
tion of  various-sized  weights,  giving  an  excellent  idea  of  how  these  stones  were  kept  in 
the  olden  basilicas. 

4  De  Rossi,  Bull.  arch,  crist,  1864,  p.  58,  on  the  measures  kept  at  the  Capitol,  and  on 
one  in  the  Strasburg  Library  marked  with  the  monogram  of  Christ. 


no.  386]    PELAGIUS  I.:  HIS  ADMINISTRATION  53 


111.  103).  It  would,  of  course,  not  be  right  to  deny  that  such 
weights  may  occasionally  have  been  used  for  the  punishment  of 
Christians  ;  but  the  reason  why  so  many  of  these  stones  have  been 
kept  in  churches  from  time  immemorial,  must  rather  be  sought 
in  the  law  which  once  directed  their  preservation  there.  They 
thus  acquired  a  certain 
dignity,  and,  in  later 
times,  when  their  origin 
was  forgotten,  they  be- 
came objects  of  rever- 
ence. Especially  when 
many  of  various  sizes 
are  found  together,  they 
may  well  have  been  pre- 
served without  a  break 
since  the  time  of  the 
Old  Christian  Empire. 
During  the  sacks  and 
other  misfortunes  which 
the  basilicas  had  to  ex- 
perience, they  were  far 
safer  than  other  ob- 
jects of  greater  value. 
Baronius  is  quite  wrong  in  endeavouring  to  show  that  a  difference 
exists  between  the  stones  in  the  present  churches  and  the  early 
weights,  inasmuch  as  the  weights  were  always  provided  with 
numbers,  whereas  those  in  the  churches  are  not.  The  fact  is 
that  many  weights  never  bore  any  marks,  whilst  many  of  the 
stones  in  the  churches  do  in  reality  display  numbers.1 


386.  Pelagius  I.  was  just  the  man  to  use  to  the  best  advantage 
of  the  Church  and  country  the  new  legislation  of  Justinian  for 
Italy.  His  previous  experience,  as  deacon,  in  business  both 
ecclesiastical  and  political  qualified  him  for  the  attainment  of  the 
high  aims  sought  by  Papacy  and  Empire. 

1  Emiliano  Sarti,  a  Roman  professor,  in  his  appendix  to  Dionysius'  Cryptae  Vaticcmae, 
p.  97,  speaking  of  the  weights  preserved  in  the  crypt  of  St.  Peter  (n.  149,  p.  6),  also  dis- 
agrees with  Baronius  :  "  pondera  ex  nigro  lapide,  quae  in  excruciandis  Sanctis  martyribus 
adhibit  a  olim  fuisse  traditur." 


54 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.387 


His  Regests  indeed  afford  us  an  insight  into  a  singularly 
strenuous  life. 

A  glance  at  his  letters  shows  us  how  Pelagius  intervened  in 
the  regular  administration  of  justice,  and,  for  instance,  removed 
cases  in  which  the  clergy  or  the  monasteries  were  concerned,  from 
the  secular  tribunals  of  Italy,  and  sent  them  to  be  tried  by  his 
Bishops  ;  how  he  called  in  the  secular  arm  against  usurping  or 
unruly  Bishops,  demanding  at  the  same  time  the  presence  of  a  few 
clerics,  in  order  that  "the  military  may  not  appear  to  be  acting 
alone."  Again  we  find  him  assailing  abuses  in  the  monasteries  or 
among  the  clergy  with  the  ready  weapons  of  spiritual  admonition 
and  penance.  At  other  times  he  backs  up  the  action  of  his 
Bishops  by  the  "  defensor es  of  the  Holy  See,"  i.e.  by  experienced 
lawyers  in  lower  orders  who  carry  out  his  directions.1 

In  some  of  this  Pope's  letters  a  strong  secular  element  is 
noticeable.  This  was  called  for  by  the  particular  risks  of  the 
period  ;  especially  when  it  became  necessary  to  put  in  order  the 
property  and  revenues  of  the  Roman  See,  Pelagius  displayed  a 
prudence  which  overlooked  nothing. 

387.  Already,  under  previous  Popes,  we  find  passing  allusions 
to  the  estates  or  Patrimonies  of  St.  Peter.  The  basis  of  the 
species  of  doomsday-book  of  the  Lateran,  which  still  served  for 
the  administration  of  the  Patrimonies  under  Gregory  the  Great, 
dated  from  Gelasius.  From  the  Chancery  of  Gelasius  documents 
are  still  preserved  which  take  the  reader  back  to  the  earliest  days 
of  these  estates,  especially  a  number  of  receipts  duly  handed  over 
in  exchange  for  the  revenues.  Even  then  the  Patrimonies  already 
extended  beyond  Italy  ;  for  instance,  as  far  as  Dalmatia.  Gelasius, 
like  Pelagius  later,  we  find  complaining  that,  in  consequence  of 
the  wars,  much  of  the  Patrimonies  had  been  confiscated  by  the 
enemy  ;  hence,  that  less  than  heretofore  could  be  given  for  the 
support  of  the  poor.2 

That  Pelagius,  on  account  of  damage  done  to  the  Patrimonies 
in  Italy,  claimed  help  from  those  in  Gaul,  we  have  already  seen. 

1  Cp.  the  Regesta  in  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.  in  the  order  of  the  examples  cited  :  n.  1021, 
964,  952,  1024,  1028,  1001,  968,  981. 

2  lOH.  DlAC,  Vitas.  Gregorii,  2,  c.  24  :  "  Gelastani/s  polypiychus"  The  patrimoniu7n 
in  Dalmatia  is  described  as  "  recula  s.  Petri  inter  Dalmatias"  (Ge/as.  ep.  ad Agihtlphuin  ; 
Mansi,  8,  141 ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  686).  Complaints  of  Gelasius  to  "  Firmina,  illus- 
tris  femina"  in  Mansi,  8,  142;  Jaff£-Kaltenbr.  n.  685.  " Res  panperum"  :  Mansi, 
ibid. ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  684. 


no. 388]    PELAGIUS  I.:  HIS  ADMINISTRATION  55 


In  his  anxiety  he  also  turned  to  Africa,  where  the  Roman  Church 
perhaps  even  then  possessed  the  estates  mentioned  under  Gregory  I. 
To  Boethius,  the  Pretorian  Prefect  in  Africa,  he  explains  that  after 
twenty-five  years  of  warfare,  even  then  not  yet  at  an  end,  the 
Roman  Church  could  reckon  only  on  a  scanty  income  from  distant 
islands  and  remote  countries  for  the  support  of  its  clergy  and 
numerous  poor.1 

Meanwhile  matters  gradually  improved  under  his  painstaking 
care.  In  the  few  documents  which  have  accidentally  survived, 
Pelagius  mentions  several  remittances,  for  instance,  in  letters  to 
Maurus,  Bishop  of  Praeneste,  and  Julian,  Bishop  of  Cingoli.  Both 
were  administrators  of  Roman  Patrimonies  lying  in  their  districts. 
Julian  had  consigned  five  hundred  gold  solidi  to  a  banker  in 
Rome  named  Anastasius,  who  is  here  styled  argentarius  and 
arcarius  to  the  Pope.2 

A  certain  church  notary  named  Valentine  was,  however,  the 
principal  mainstay  of  the  Pope  in  his  work  of  economic  reform. 
In  this  work  Pelagius  stood  in  need  of  such  assistance,  for  the 
difficulties  of  his  task  were  increased  by  the  unreliability  of  the 
ecclesiastical  officials.  For  instance,  the  Pope  was  obliged  to 
despatch  a  letter  of  rebuke  to  a  defensor  named  Dulcitius,  because 
he  had  sent  in  a  statement  of  accounts  previously  cooked  "  after 
the  fashion  of  the  Greeks."  So  careful  was  the  Pope's  manage- 
ment, that  we  even  find  a  letter  of  his  to  Gurdimer,  a  comes, 
concerning  the  cultivation  of  some  meadows  on  the  Via  Por- 
ttiensis? 

All  this  trouble  was  rewarded  :  it  was  "  the  property  of  the 
poor  "  that  was  at  stake  ;  and  these  res  pauperum,  as  the  estates 
were  called,  were  rightly  so  dear  to  the  Pope,  that  even  when  the 
famous  Narses  himself  suggested  using  them  for  other  persons, 
Pelagius  peremptorily  refused  his  proposal.4 

388.  When  Pelagius  died  on  March  4,  561,  an  affectionate 
epitaph  in  the  then  customary  metrical  form  was  placed  upon  the 
monument  erected  by  the  Romans  to  his  memory  in  the  portico 

1  Pelagius  to  Boethius  :  Mansi,  9.  737  ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  963. 

2  To  Maurus  :  Mansi,  9,  736.  To  Julian  :  ibid.,  737  ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  951, 953. 

3  To  Dulcitius :  Mansi,  ibid.  To  Gurdimer  :  Coll.  Brit.  Pelagii  ep.  62  :  "prata  in 
via  portuensi  quae  Epreiana  vocantur?    JAFFE-KALTENBR.,  n.  949,  1034. 

4  To  Narses  :  "Bene  noverit  excellentia  veslra,  nos  habentibus  duntaxat  hominibus  et 
nullam  necessitatem  patientibus  res  dare  pauperum  nulla  ratione  praesumere,"  &c. 
(Mansi,  9,  736.    Deusdedit,  Collect,  can.,  3,  c.  104,  ed.  Martinucci,  p.  289.) 


56 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  389 


of  St.  Peter's.  The  poetry,  indeed,  was  not  of  the  best,  but  the 
verses  rightly  extolled  the  deceased  for  the  part  he  had  taken  in 
the  revival  of  Rome  and  for  his  efforts  to  relieve  all  forms  of 
distress.  It  tells  how  he  brought  many  new  recruits  into  God's 
sanctuary  and  banished  simony  ;  how  he  ransomed  captives,  and 
never  withheld  from  the  unfortunate  poor  the  things  he  had  in 
gift ;  how  he  shared  the  sorrows  of  all,  and  made  his  own  the 
sighs  of  all  and  also  all  their  joys-1 

Pope  John  III.  (since  561) 

389.  The  choice  of  the  clergy  and,  no  doubt,  Byzantine  in- 
fluence raised  another  noble  Roman  to  the  apostolic  throne  after 
the  death  of  Pelagius  I.,  himself  a  nobleman.  Rank  had  now 
become  a  desirable  thing  on  account  of  the  secular  position  of 
the  Papacy.  John  III.,  son  of  Anastasius,  a  vir  illustris,  was 
consecrated  on  July  17,  561.  According  to  Evagrius,  he  was 
surnamed  Catelinus.2 

Four  and  a  half  months  had  elapsed  between  the  two  pontifi- 
cates. The  delay  was  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Emperor 
Justinian  had  reserved  to  the  Crown  the  right  of  ratifying  the 
papal  elections.  Hence,  each  time,  after  the  election  had  been 
concluded  in  Rome,  the  clergy  had  to  send  an  embassy  to  the 
Greek  capital  to  crave  permission  for  the  consecration  of  their 
candidate. 

390.  In  the  Liber  pontificalis  this  custom  is  mentioned  not 
long  after,  for  we  are  there  told  that,  owing  to  the  wars,  it  was 
impossible  to  undertake  the  embassy  to  Constantinople,  and  that 
the  Pope-elect  (Pelagius  II.)  had  therefore  been  consecrated 
without  awaiting  the  Emperor's  "command."3 

So  close,  then,  was  the  alliance  into  which  the  Roman  Church 
entered,  or  was  forced  to  enter,  with  the  Roman  State,  that  even 
the  appointment  of  its  head,  the  Supreme  Pontiff  of  the  whole 
Church,  was  made  dependent  upon  the  consent  of  the  secular 
power.  The  Roman  Church  was  also  obliged  to  pay  a  large  sum 
of  money  to  the  Court,  agreeably  with  invariable  Byzantine  usage, 

1  De  Rossi,  hiscr.  christ.,  2,  1,  p.  208,  after  Mallius. 

2  Evagrius,  Hist,  eccl.,  V.,  c.  16. 

3  Liber  pont.,  1,  309,  n.  112:  "absque  iussiom principis"  ed.  MOMMSEN,  p.  160. 


No.  390] 


POPE  JOHN  III. 


57 


in  exchange  for  the  act  of  ratification.  This  remained  the  rule 
for  a  whole  century  ;  for  it  was  not  until  684  that  the  Emperor 
Constantine  Pogonatus  renounced  the  privilege  of  confirmation  in 
an  edict  addressed  to  Benedict  II.  We  may  add  that  this  ratifi- 
cation was  never  taken  as  a  right  over  the  Church  inherent  in 
the  Emperor.  Such  was  certainly  not  the  case.  The  Emperor 
claimed  the  right  as  a  mere  formality  when  once  he  had  induced, 
or  practically  compelled,  the  Church  to  allow  him  this  share  in  the 
elevation  of  the  Pope,  and  the  Church  acquiesced  in  the  claim 
only  in  view  of  the  benefit  accruing  to  both  Church  and  State 
from  such  a  peaceful  union  of  both  Powers.  In  canonical  language, 
she  was  willing  to  account  the  Papal  election  as  yet  incomplete 
and  illegal  until  the  Imperial  assent  had  been  secured.  Not  until 
this  assent  had  been  obtained  did  the  candidate  complete  the 
election  by  giving  his  own  consent.  The  Imperial  assent  was 
never  refused,  and,  in  reality,  it  was  of  no  great  moment,  at  least 
not  when  the  election  had  been  unanimous,  though  in  double 
elections  any  ill-will  on  the  Emperor's  part  could  easily  have 
created  difficulties. 

At  any  rate,  the  Roman  Church  did  not  consider  the  situation 
as  either  wrong  or  intolerable.  Had  it  seemed  so  in  her  eyes, 
she  would  certainly  not  have  lacked  the  courage  frankly  and 
freely  to  oppose  the  pretension,  just  as  the  earlier  Popes  who 
followed  Leo  the  Great — Hilary,  Simplicius,  Felix  III.,  Gelasius, 
and  Symmachus — heedless  of  danger,  had  withstood  Byzantium, 
when  it  sought  to  interfere  in  the  rights  of  the  Church  and  of 
conscience. 


.—ROME  UNDER  NARSES  AND  IN  THE 
EARLY  PERIOD  OF  THE  EXARCHATE 


CHAPTER  I 


THE  POPES  AND  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  ITALY  AND  ROME 

A  Glance  at  Events 

391.  The  three  Popes  who  occupied  the  Roman  Chair  in  the 
interval  between  Pelagius  I.  and  Gregory  the  Great,  in  spite 
of  Byzantine  victories  and  the  hopes  founded  on  them,  reigned 
in  a  time  of  great  hardship. 

John  HI.,  who  was  Pope  for  nearly  thirteen  years,  saw  the 
advent  of  the  Lombards  in  Italy  (568),  and  the  dawn  of  a  fresh 
reign  of  terror.  Speaking  of  the  death  of  Benedict  I.,  a  Roman, 
son  of  Boniface,  who  followed  John  as  Pope  after  an  interval  of 
ten  months,  the  Liber  pontificalis  says:  "Overwhelmed  with 
troubles  and  afflictions,  Benedict  departed  this  life."  Benedict, 
when  he  died  in  579,  had  been  in  office  barely  four  years.1 

Pelagius  II.,  the  son  of  Winigild,  a  Goth,  was  the  next  to 
be  raised  to  the  uneasy  throne  of  Peter.  His  choice  is  a  happy 
sign  that  the  Church  of  Rome  was  beginning  to  overcome  the 
antagonism  of  nations  which  so  lately  had  been  engaged  in  a 
murderous  struggle.  Pelagius  II.  was  an  excellent  priest,  though 
not  a  peer  in  talent  and  political  gifts  to  the  first  bearer  of  the 
name.  After  a  pontificate  full  of  afflictions  and  anxiety,  prin- 
cipally owing  to  the  near  approach  of  the  Lombards,  he  was 
carried  off  by  the  terrible  pestilence  which,  in  the  beginning  of 
590,  ravaged  the  City  and  its  neighbourhood.2 

392.  To  compare  this  enumeration  of  the  immediate  pre- 
decessors of  Gregory  I.  with  the  names  of  the  contemporary 
monarchs.  Justinian  I.,  the  conqueror  and  lawgiver,  closed  his 
eyes  in  death  in  565.  He  was  a  sovereign  of  great  enterprise, 
a  successful  but  unscrupulous  reviver  of  the  outward  power  and 

1  Liber ftont.,  i,  308,  Betted.  L,  n.  m.  The  death  of  Benedict  occurred  on  July  30. 
Before  this  Pope  the  See  was  vacant  from  July  13,  574,  to  June  2,  575. 

2  Liber  pottt.,  1,  309,  Pelagius  II,  n.  112  :  "  Natione  Rotnanus,  de  pa/re  Unigildo" 
According  to  this  source  his  reign  lasted  ten  years  two  months  and  ten  days,  i.e.  from 
November  26,  579,  to  February  7,  590. 

61 


62 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  392 


splendour  of  the  Empire  of  East  Rome.  A  contemporary  diptych 
once  preserved  in  Rome  (111.  178) 1  represents  him  very  charac- 
teristically prancing  on  horseback  over  the  figure  of  Gaea,  i.e.  over 
the  earth  subdued  by  him,  while  his  devoted  servants  bring  him 
the  tokens  of  victory,  and  the  conquered  nations  the  tribute  of 
their  countries.  Above  him  we  see  Christ,  in  youthful  form, 
blessing  the  Emperor,  and  holding  in  His  hand  the  sceptre  of 
Divine  Government  over  the  world.  To  tell  the  truth,  this 
sceptre  in  Christ's  hand  was  not  always  remembered  by  Justinian, 
and,  in  the  doctrinal  disputes,  not  infrequently  had  to  yield  to  the 
sceptre  of  the  worldly  autocrat. 

A  milder  man  by  far  was  Justin  II.  We  may  even  feel 
tempted  to  rank  this  cultured,  peace-loving,  and  pious  monarch 
higher  than  the  domineering  Justinian  with  his  excessive  fondness 
for  outward  display.  But  Justin  II.  proved  weak;  he  was  too 
old,  and  showed  the  faults  of  an  old  man  in  his  government ;  the 
farsightedness  and  the  kingly  character  of  his  predecessor  were 
not  his.  The  next  Emperor,  Tiberius,  who  came  to  the  throne 
in  578,  had  more  determination  and  energy. 

Finally,  Mauritius,  who  in  the  year  582  succeeded  the  latter, 
was  above  all  a  soldier,  and  displayed  many  of  a  ruler's  qualities. 
He  spoiled,  however,  the  good  he  did  by  petty  efforts  to  enrich 
the  Exchequer  by  little  acts  of  meanness,  and  not  less  by  dis- 
favour shown  to  the  free  action  of  certain  elements  which  help  to 
support  the  State,  among  which  the  Church  holds  the  first  place. 

Partly  from  piety,  partly  from  policy,  the  Emperor  Mauritius 
was  an  admirer  of  his  Court  Patriarch,  John  "the  Faster."  The 
latter  was  trying  to  increase  his  own  dignity,  to  some  extent  at 
the  expense  of  the  Pope  of  Old  Rome,  and  his  action  found  warm 
approval  and  support  at  the  Court  of  Constantinople.  When, 
however,  John  the  Faster,  at  a  Synod  in  Constantinople  in  588, 
gave  himself  the  sonorous  title  of  "  Oecumenical  Patriarch,"  Pope 
Pelagius  II.  raised  his  voice  in  protest,  and  declared  the  decrees 
of  the  Council  invalid.2 

The  history  of  the  relations  between  Popes  and  Emperors 

1  Cp.  Daremberg  and  Saglio,  Diet,  des  antiquites,  2,  1,  p.  275,  PI.  2459.  Among 
other  scholars  who  have  seen  Justinian  in  the  figure  here  depicted,  we  may  mention 
Garrucci  {Arte  crist.,  6,  p.  74)  and  Stuhlfauth  (A/tc/ir.  Elfcnbeinplastik,  pp.  109, 
200).  Garrucci  opines  that  the  figure  to  the  left  shows  Narses.  This  work  of  art  is  now 
in  the  Paris  Louvre. 

2  Gregorii  M.  Regist.,  5,  n.  44  (ed.  Maur.,  5,  n.  13)  ;  Jaffe-Ewald,  n.  1357,  1354  ; 
cp.  n.  1058. 


111.  178. — The  Emperor  Justinian. 
(Ivory  diptych  formerly  at  the  Museo  Iiarberini  in  Rome.    Photo  l>y  Morcioxi.) 


no.  393]  EXARCHS  OF  RAVENNA 


63 


throughout  this  period  is,  however,  only  imperfectly  known. 
Documents  which  would  have  thrown  light  on  it  are  unfortunately 
missing.  The  letters  of  the  Papal  Chancery,  of  which  some  have 
survived  belonging  to  the  time  of  Pelagius  I.,  furnish  no  informa- 
tion. One  document  only  has  been  saved  from  the  long  Pontificate 
of  John  III.,  and  that  only  because  it  was  included  in  Gregory 
the  Great's  register  of  letters.  We  do  not  know  the  wording  of  a 
single  letter  of  Benedict  I.,  though  we  hear  of  his  injunctions. 
Even  in  JafTe's  Regesta  we  find  only  eleven  documents  belonging 
to  Pelagius  II.  Hence  any  detailed  history  of  the  Popes  of  this 
period  is  unfortunately  impossible. 

We  are  better  informed  about  ecclesiastical  life  in  Rome  and 
about  many  details  belonging  to  the  domain  of  religious  and  pro- 
fane literature  and  art.  Even  certain  questions  regarding  the 
administration  of  Italy  and  the  Roman  district  can  be  settled  with 
tolerable  clearness,  especially  owing  to  the  light  thrown  on  the 
then  state  of  things  by  the  voluminous  correspondence  of  Gregory 
the  Great.  Hence  in  sketching  this  portion  of  the  history  of 
Rome  we  shall  devote  our  attention  to  its  internal  condition. 
The  Byzantine  Government,  the  last  stage  of  that  once  so  finely 
organised  and  powerful  Roman  rule,  is  the  first  thing  to  be 
considered.1 


393.  The  series  of  Exarchs  in  Italy,  to  give  a  glance  here  at 
its  beginnings,  did  not  commence  with  the  famous  General 
Narses.  It  is  true  that,  even  after  the  close  of  the  Gothic  War, 
he  held  the  highest  military  command  over  the  Byzantine  portion 
of  Italy,  and  also  that  he  stood  at  the  head  of  the  Civil  Govern- 
ment. He  ruled  the  entire  country  from  his  residence  on  the 
Palatine  in  Rome.  For  all  this,  he  did  not  bear  the  title  of 
Exarch  ;  his  position  was  rather  a  personal  one,  and  the  office 
of  Exarch  had  not  yet  been  called  into  being. 

When  Narses  had  been  disgraced  (ca.  568),  dying  soon  after, 
Italy  had  bitterly  to  feel  his  loss.  The  East-Roman  General 
Baduarius  made  a  transitory  appearance  in  the  campaign  against 

1  On  what  follows  cp.  Hartmann,  Die  byzant.  Verwaltung  in  Italienj  DlEHL,  L? ad- 
ministration bysantine.  Mommsen,  Aeues  Arc/iiv,  15  (1890),  181— 186,  supplements 
Hartmann  and  Diehl.  Cp.  Cohn,  Die  Stellung  der  byzantinischen  Statthalter  in  Italien 
(1889),  and  Lampe,  Qui  fuerint  Gregorii  M.  temporibus  .  .  .  exarchi,  &c.  (1892). 


64 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.393 


the  Lombards,  but  he,  too,  was  not  yet  described  as  Exarch. 
A  standing  army  and  a  fixed  military  command  did  not  then  exist. 
This  alone  makes  it  possible  to  understand  how  the  Lombards, 
soon  after  their  irruption  into  Italy  (568),  saw  their  efforts 
crowned  with  success.  Under  their  onslaught  Baduarius,  the 
son-in-law  of  Justin,  sustained  a  sanguinary  defeat  at  some  date 
between  575  and  577. 

After  him,  the  needs  of  the  times  compelled  the  appointment 
of  a  commander-in-chief  in  Italy,  on  whom  the  title  of  Exarch  was 
bestowed.  This  soldier,  Decius  by  name,  in  584,  occupied  the 
stronghold  Ravenna,  the  bulwark  of  Byzantine  power,  which  had 
been  threatened  by  the  capture  of  its  port,  Classis,  by  the 
Lombards.1 

Smaragdus,  the  successor  of  Decius,  probably  arrived  in  Italy 
the  next  year.  The  nomination  of  this  Exarch  was  an  excellent 
choice.  As  a  soldier,  Smaragdus  is  extolled  by  Pope  Pelagius  II. 
for  his  victories,  whilst  Gregory  I.  describes  him  as  a  good  church- 
man, who  was  ready  to  stand  by  the  Popes.  In  589,  however,  a 
new  Exarch  already  ruled  Italy,  to  wit,  Julian,  whose  name 
de  Rossi  has  shown  to  occur  upon  the  fragments  of  a  Greek 
inscription  in  Rome.2 

Until  Gregory's  time,  in  596,  the  General  invested  with  the 
title  of  Exarch  was  Romanus.  He  was  scarcely  equal  to  the 
exceptionally  difficult  military  tasks  which  devolved  on  him,  and 
preferred  to  let  things  go  their  own  way  ;  on  the  other  hand,  in 
his  dealings  with  the  Church,  he  was  none  the  less  zealous  and 
despotic. 

The  Exarchs,  from  Decius  onwards,  resided  in  Ravenna. 
Those  who  succeeded  Romanus  to  the  middle  of  the  seventh 
century  were  :  Callinicus  (596-603),  an  able  viceroy;  then,  much 
to  the  satisfaction  of  Gregory  I.,  Smaragdus  again  assumed  the 
government,  though  for  how  long  we  do  not  know ;  he  was 
followed  by  John,  who  in  turn  was  succeeded  by  Eleutherius, 
who  ruled  till  619.  From  625  to  643  the  Exarch  was  Isacius, 
succeeded  in  643  by  Calliopas.  About  645  we  find  Platon,  and 
from  649  till  about  651,  Olympius. 

1  Hartmann,  p.  9. 

2  De  Rossi,  Inscr.  christ.  urbis  Romae,  2,  1,  p.  455.  In  the  dated  inscription  stand 
the  words  :  eVi  'IoiAiae[y]       e'£apxv  'lT[a\tas]. 


No.  394] 


BYZANTINE  OFFICIALDOM 


65 


The  Administration  of  Italy  and  Rome 

394.  The  office  of  Exarch,  as  Mommsen  has  recently  pointed 
out,  was  a  natural  outcome  of  the  official  position  which  the  Gothic 
King-  Theodoric  had  assumed  with  respect  to  Byzantium.1 

The  Exarchate  in  Italy  was  simply  the  continuation  of  Theo- 
doric's  office  of  permanent  magister  militum  of  the  Empire.  Just 
as  the  Gothic  King  in  the  Emperor's  eyes  was  the  highest  military 
chief,  though  the  office  he  held  was  neither  for  life  nor  hereditary, 
so  was  it  also  with  the  Exarch.  The  Byzantine  system  of  govern- 
ment allowed  for  similar  plenipotentiaries  in  Thrace  and  in  the 
East,  where  they  bore  the  title  of  magistri  militum.  As,  however, 
in  Italy  many  other  inferior  officers  were  called  magistri  militum, 
the  commander-in-chief  there  was  distinguished  by  the  title  of 
Exarch.  In  North  Africa,  also,  the  chief  military  authority  was 
known  as  Exarch,  though,  as  is  clear,  for  instance,  from  inscrip- 
tions of  the  African  Exarch  Sclomon,  he  was  also  sometimes  called 
magister  militum. 

Hence  the  dignity  of  Exarch  found  its  place  quite  naturally 
in  Byzantine  officialdom.  The  system  of  ranks  and  titles  was 
indeed  considered  as  something  inviolable  and  sacred.  Nor  was 
the  title  of  Exarch  an  unknown  one,  though  in  its  earlier  use  it 
had  signified  something  different,  being  reserved  for  the  leaders 
of  armies  actually  at  the  front.2 

The  Exarchs  of  Italy  were,  however,  not  mere  army-chiefs, 
but  also  wielded  the  highest  civil  authority.  They  conducted 
the  whole  administration  in  Italy  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor,  and 
controlled  the  revenue.  For  this  purpose  they  had  the  assistance 
of  a  number  of  high  officials  selected  by  themselves — Consiliarii, 
Scholastic!,  Adsessores,  Domestici,  and  Cancellarii. 

That  civil  government  should  depend  on  the  highest  military 
commander  was  certainly  no  advantage  to  the  country,  for  such 
an  arrangement  left  a  way  open  to  despotism.  Yet  in  the  per- 
manent state  of  war  which  followed  the  Lombard  invasion  it  had 
become  necessary.  Little  by  little  we  find  the  military  duces 
taking  the  place  of  the  indices  provinciarum  or  civil  governors  of 
the  provinces.   Often  the  inhabitants  had  good  reason  to  complain 

1  Mommsen,  Neues  Archiv,  15  (1890),  185  ff. 

2  Hartmann,  p.  9. 

VOL.  III.  E 


66 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  394 


that  the  administration  of  their  provincial  affairs  was  left  to  sub- 
ordinate officers,  furnished  with  ample  powers,  and  who  often 
used  them  without  much  scruple.  The  subordinate  officers  were, 
however,  to  remain,  whereas  the  indices  disappeared  from  history 
during  the  course  of  the  seventh  century.1 

The  power  of  the  Italian  Exarch  and  his  subordinates  did  not 
extend  over  Sardinia  and  Corsica,  which,  since  Vandal  times, 
belonged  to  the  jurisdiction  of  North  Africa,  and  depended  on 
the  Byzantine  Exarch  there. 

The  Exarch  of  Italy  is  sometimes  simply  called  Patricius,  or 
Patricius  Italiae,  Patrician  rank  being  the  highest  runo-  of  the 
Byzantine  social  ladder,  and  invariably  conferred  on  the  Exarchs. 
Except  the  Exarch,  there  was  no  other  Patricius  in  Italy.  Hence, 
colloquially,  the  title  of  Patricius  was  often  used  indiscriminately 
with  that  of  Exarch.  The  title  of  honour  peculiar  to  the  Exarch 
was  excellentissimus . 

The  highest  Imperial  officer  in  Italy  after  the  Exarch  was 
the  Praefectus  praetorio  per  Itaiiam,  who  resided  in  Ravenna,  and 
was  responsible  for  the  administration  of  justice  in  the  Byzantine 
provinces.  This  office  seems  to  have  been  still  in  existence  in 
the  middle  of  the  seventh  century.  We  also  gather  that,  under 
the  Byzantines,  the  ancient  offices  of  "  Vicar  of  Italy  "  and  "  Vicar 
of  the  City  of  Rome "  long  continued  to  be  maintained.  The 
"  Vicar  of  Italy,"  with  the  title  Agens  vices  praefecti  praetorio,  was 
the  permanent  representative  of  the  Empire  in  Rome.2 

In  Rome  itself,  besides  the  two  Vicars  just  spoken  of,  the 
City  Prefect,  Praefectus  urbi,  still  officiated,  though  in  a  different 
sphere  of  usefulness.  It  would  not  be  hazardous  to  suppose  that, 
on  State  occasions,  he  still  availed  himself  of  the  ancient  dis- 
tinctions conferred  upon  him  by  the  Empire,  namely,  of  the  right 
to  use  the  State  chariot,  and  to  display  the  Imperial  portraits 
(111.  179)- 

It  is  not,  however,  clear,  from  our  authorities,  what  prerogatives 
this  once  exalted  office  had  retained  for  itself.  At  any  rate,  its 
splendour  was  a  thing  almost  of  the  past.  From  the  death  of 
Gregory  the  Great  down  to  Pope  Hadrian,  i.e.  till  the  end  of  the 

1  Hegel,  Gesch.  des  Stadtewesens  in  Italien,  i,  Introd.   Hartmann,  p.  44.  Diehl, 

2  Mommsen,  Neues  Archiv,  15  (1890),  181  ;  cp.  Hartmann,  p.  39  ff.,  according 
to  whom  the  vicarius  urbis  Romae  mentioned  by  Cassiodorus  was  Vicar  of  the  City 
Prefect. 


no.  39-1]  BYZANTINE  OFFICIALDOM 


67 


eighth  century,  no  Roman  City  Prefect  appears  at  all  in  history. 
According  to  Cassiodorus,  the  Prefect  of  Rome  under  the  Goths 
exercised  jurisdiction,  not  only  in  the  City,  but  also  for  forty 
Roman  miles  around.  This  would  lead  one  to  suppose  that 
the  then  authority  of  the  Prefect  was  still  commensurate  with  his 
office.    Nor  is  it  impossible  that  the  Prefect's  office  may  have 


I  I  1 

111.  179. — Insignia  of  the  Roman  City  Prefect. 
From  the  MS.  of  the  Notitia  Dignitatum  at  Munich  (Seeck,  p.  113). 


survived  without  interruption  throughout  the  subsequent  period, 
though  with  reduced  judicial  competence.  However  this  may  be, 
"  the  functions  of  the  various  officials  subordinate  to  the  City 
Prefect  were  gradually  absorbed  by  the  ministers  of  the  Papal 
See."1 

This  absorption  was  not  hindered  by  the  fact  that  the  Prefect, 
as  well  as  the  Vicarius  zirbis  Romae,  retained  his  Agens  vices  (or 

1  Hartmann,  p.  45. 


68 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  394 


Vice-Prefect) ;  there  was  indeed  no  lack  of  unnecessary  officials. 
In  fact,  the  increase  in  episcopal  influence  was  largely  due  to  the 
conspicuous  failings  of  the  great  army  of  civil  officials,  especially 
to  their  corruption  and  incapacity. 

In  many  instances  it  is  a  mere  accident  that  there  is  no 
information  to  hand  concerning  certain  Roman  offices.  The 
praetorship  and  quaestorship  of  the  City  of  Rome  are  not  men- 
tioned after  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  though  we  read  in 
Gregory  the  Great's  letters  that,  before  entering  the  service  of 
the  Church,  he  had  held  the  office  of  Praetor  of  Rome.1 

Intercourse  on  affairs  of  State  between  the  Exarch  of  Ravenna 
and  the  City  of  Rome  seems  to  have  been  in  the  hands  of  the 
so-called  chartularii.  The  chartularies  of  Ravenna  repeatedly 
played  an  important  part  in  Rome  during  the  seventh  century. 
What  their  duties  actually  were  cannot  be  defined  with  cer- 
tainty, but  probably  corresponded  with  those  of  secretaries  to 
the  Exarch.2 

A  chartulary,  when  staying  in  Rome,  took  up  his  quarters  in 
the  ancient  residence  on  the  Palatine  Hill,  which  was  still  invari- 
ably known  quite  simply  as  Palatium.  Here  was  also  the  dwelling 
of  the  Vicar  of  Italy  with  his  swarm  of  Byzantine  courtiers,  and 
here,  too,  the  Exarch  of  Ravenna  was  welcomed  with  Oriental 
pomp  whenever  he  chose  to  honour  Rome  with  his  presence. 
When,  in  653,  the  Emperor  Constans  II.  visited  the  City,  he 
likewise,  was  accommodated  in  the  apartments  of  the  venerable 
Imperial  castle. 

1  Mommsen,  Rom.  Staatsrecht,  23,  238,  534.  Also  Greg.  Magn.,  Registr.,  4,  n.  2, 
p-  234. 

2  Hartmann  opines,  p.  33?  that  the  original  office  of  a  cJuxrtuhxvius  was  to  superintend, 
the  presentations  at  the  levees  ;  whence  the  word  chartularius. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  CHRISTIAN  PALATINE 

395.  As  the  conqueror  of  Italy  and  Governor  of  its  Provinces, 
Narses,  after  having  evicted  the  Gothic  officials  and  courtiers, 
took  possession  of  the  halls  of  the  Palatine.  The  rich  spoils 
which  he  brought  with  him,  treasures  from  many  an  Italian  city, 
may  well  have  lent  passing  splendour  to  the  crumbling  palace. 
We  are  told  that  Narses,  like  a  king,  was  accompanied  by  a  train 
of  four  hundred  souls.  Doubtless,  with  a  Court  on  such  a  scale, 
he  will  have  repaired  to  some  extent  the  time-worn  buildings  on 
the  Palatine.  Even  Theodoric  had  contributed  a  sum  annually 
to  be  spent  on  the  upkeep  of  this  Imperial  residence,  and  a  Greek, 
who  represented  the  Emperor,  would  scarcely  have  allowed  himself 
to  be  outdone  by  a  Goth  in  his  care  for  the  classic  Imperial  home.1 

No  buildings,  not  even  any  certain  trace  of  repairs,  executed 
by  Narses  can,  however,  be  pointed  out  on  the  Palatine.  There 
we  may  wander  through  the  huge  deserted  ruins,  stumbling  at 
every  step  on  relics  of  stately  edifices,  halls,  porticoes,  and  heathen 
temples  ;  of  the  Middle  Ages,  however,  even  of  the  early  portion 
of  that  period,  we  shall  find  but  few  reminders.2 

Imagination  almost  gives  way  under  the  effort  of  animating 
this  colossal  world  of  antiquity  with  Christian  pictures,  whether 
of  Byzantine  or  later  times.  Christian  annals  speak  mainly  of 
the  wreck  and  ruin  of  the  antique.  How  much  of  their  ancient 
splendour  was  left  in  the  days  when,  under  Leo  the  Great,  Gen- 
seric's  Vandals  burst,  plundering  and  burning,  into  the  innermost 
recesses  of  these  halls  teeming  with  wealth  ?  Who  cared  for  the 
blackened,  tottering  halls,  till  the  advent  of  Theodoric  and  Narses  ? 
Certainly  none  of  those  who,  during  the  oft-repeated  assaults  and 
sacks  of  the  City,  sought  only  to  wreak  revenge  and  acquire 
wealth. 

1  On  Theodoric,  cp.  present  work,  vol.  ii.  p.  229. 

2  On  a  source,  once  wrongly  post-dated,  which  deals  with  the  Palatine,  see  Hulsen, 
Die  atigebliche  mittelalterliche  Beschreibntig  des  Palatins  (Mitth.  des  arch.  Inst.,  17, 
1902,  p.  255  fL). 

69 


7° 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[NO.  396 


Even  in  the  case  of  Theodoric  and  Narses,  it  is  probable  that 
they  confined  their  attention  to  rendering  part  of  the  town-like 
Imperial  edifices  on  the  hill  habitable. 

It  would  seem  that  two  groups  of  buildings  remained  inhabited  ; 
one  opposite  the  Capitol  and  the  Forum,  on  account  of  its  con- 
nection with  the  City,  and  the  other  at  the  southern  angle  of  the 
hill,  near  the  so-called  Stadium  palatinum,  which  even  now  is 
relatively  well  preserved,  and  which  commands  the  Appian  Way. 
These  parts  appear  upon  our  plan  (111.  180),1  at  the  top  to  the 
left  and  at  the  bottom  to  the  right.  It  may  be  taken  that,  in 
later  times,  communication  was  always  open  between  these  and 
the  other  still  occupied  parts  by  means  of  the  roads  leading  round 
the  hill  ;  whereas  the  middle  of  the  Palatine,  with  its  huge 
masses  of  building,  must  soon  have  become  an  impassable  and 
even  dangerous  wilderness,  owing  to  the  accumulating  ruins. 

396.  Upon  the  famous  hill  the  old  heathen  temples  began 
to  shroud  themselves  in  mystery.  Such  was  the  fate  of  the 
Temple  of  Apollo,  adorned  with  the  finest  works  of  art,  which 
seems  to  have  stood  to  the  east  of  the  Flavian  Palace  {Domtis 
Flaviorum)  ;  of  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Victor,  situated  on 
the  other  side,  and  which  now  could  mourn  the  loss  of 
the  votive  offerings  made  it  by  victorious  generals  ;  of  the 
Temple  of  Cybele,  the  Mother  of  the  gods,  which,  perhaps, 
of  all  the  temples  on  that  hill,  was  the  last  to  remain  an 
object  of  veneration  to  the  many  votaries  of  Mithra  and 
devotees  of  Eastern  rites.  All  around  the  Palatine  stood 
temples,  deserted  and  ravaged,  to  Victoria,  to  Divus  Augustus, 
to  Minerva,  and  to  Jupiter  Stator.  The  two  libraries — Latin 
and  Greek — of  Apollo,  stood  exposed  to  the  weather  and 
probably  long  since  robbed  of  their  literary  treasures  ;  the 
towering  Palace  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius,  and  the  splendid 
one  of  Augustus — a  model  of  elegant  architecture.  Even  the 
palace  of  the  Imperial  Flavii  was  unable  to  maintain  itself, 
that  vast  and  massive  structure  rising  in  the  centre  with  its 
broad  ruined  peristylium,  adjoining  halls  for  banquets  and 
festivities,  and  reception-rooms  in  front,  supported  on  either  side 
by  the  Basilica  and  the  so-called  Lararium  (111.  181). 


1  Illustration  180  is  an  emendation  of  the  plan  in  Visconti  and  Lanciani,  Guida 
del  Palatini).    The  references  will  be  explained  later. 


111.  1 80. — Plan  of  the  Imperial  Palaces  and  other  ancient  Structures 

on  the  Palatine. 


111.  181. — Imperial  Palace  of  the  Flavii  on  the  Palatine. 
(Vertical  section,  reconstructed  by  Reber,  Panorama  ion  Rom  zur  Zcit  Konslaniins,  p.  65.) 


no.  396]      CHURCHES  ON  THE  PALATINE  71 


The  Gardens  of  Adonis,  which  Domitian  had  laid  out  on 
an  Oriental  pattern,  had  long  been  forgotten,  and  were  a  mere 
wilderness.  Lupercal,  the  legendary  shrine,  stood  desolate 
since  the  time  of  Pope  Gelasius.  Many  years  had  elapsed 
since  the  Paedagogium  for  the  Imperial  pages  had  sent  out 
the  last  of  its  trained  and  obsequious  servants  to  minister  to 


111.  182. — The  Mock  Crucifix  of  the  Palatine. 
AAEXAMENOC  OEBETE  0EON  (Alexamenos  worships  God). 


the  rulers  ;  pages  for  the  Imperial  Vicar  had  to  be  imported 
from  Byzantium,  but  the  Cross  and  the  Religion  founded  on 
it  was  now  honoured  upon  the  hill,  where  the  walls  of  the 
Paedagogium  had  once  been  desecrated  by  the  notorious 
caricature  discovered  by  Garrucci.1 

1  Garrucci,  //  crocifisso  graffito,  &c,  1857.  Reproductions  also  in  Kraus,  Gesch. 
der  dir.  Kunst,  1,  173  ;  Das  Spottcrutifix,  1872  ;  Realeticyk.  tier  dir.  Alt.,  2,  p.  774.  The 
Crucified  is  vested  in  a  tight  colobium,  and  his  feet  rest  on  a  support.    His  head  is  turned 


72 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  397 


The  dweller  in  the  home  of  the  pages,  who  scratched  this 
caricature  upon  the  wall,  shared  the  idea  prevalent  among  the 
heathen,  that  the  Crucified  Saviour,  worshipped  as  God  by  his 
comrade  Alexamenos,  had  the  head  of  an  ass  (111.  182).  This 
same  despised  Saviour,  in  the  sixth  century  and  even  earlier, 
had  come  into  the  possession  of  several  much-revered  shrines 
on  and  near  this  very  Palatine.  They  served  to  make  repara- 
tion for  the  virtue,  religion,  and  morality  formerly  so  remorse- 
lessly outraged  on  this  very  spot  by  tyrants  and  libertines. 

397.  At  the  western  angle,  above  the  substructure  of  the 
Circus  Maximus,  rises  the  church  of  S.  Anastasia,  the  Court 
church  of  the  Palatine.  Its  original  name,  in  all  probability, 
was  Anastasis,  i.e.  Resurrection.  In  this  quality  of  a  church 
dedicated  to  the  Risen  Saviour,  it  corresponds  to  the  Anastasis 
at  Constantinople,  which,  in  turn,  was  an  imitation  of  that  in  the 
Holy  Places  in  Jerusalem.  Erected,  as  it  appears,  by  the  Imperial 
Court  in  the  fourth  century,  it  was  richly  endowed  and  formed 
a  contrast  to  the  fanes  of  Hercules  standing  beneath  it  in 
front  of  the  gates  of  the  Circus;  namely,  the  Ara  Maxima  of 
ancient  Rome,  and  the  circular  Temple  of  Hercules,  both 
pretending  to  have  been  founded  by  Evander.  On  account  of 
its  connection  with  the  Court,  S.  Anastasia  was  accounted  the 
first  of  the  Roman  titular  churches.  In  rank  it  came  next  to 
the  Lateran  Basilica  and  the  church  of  S.  Maria  on  the 
Esquiline.  It  enjoyed  certain  prerogatives  with  regard  to  the 
Station-services,  which  can  only  be  explained  out  of  the  con- 
sideration shown  by  the  Roman  Church  to  the  Emperor's  Vicars 
upon  the  Palatine.  For  instance,  it  had  its  own  "  Station  "  on 
the  morning  of  Christmas  Day,  when  the  Pope  proceeded 
thither,  to  the  Imperial  Residence,  to  celebrate  early  Mass;  the 
church  continues,  even  now,  to  be  a  Station  for  one  of  the  three 
Christmas  Masses.1 

From  S.  Anastasia,  skirting  the  hill,  we  come  to  S.  Maria 
Antiqua  (Sta.   Maria  Liberatrice).     This  shrine,  of  which  we 

to  Alexamenos,  who  is  praying  with  arms  outstretched.  The  latter  would  seem  to  be  a 
member  of  the  Pasdagogium,  whom  the  author  of  the  graffito  wished  to  tease.  This  is 
the  commonly  accepted  explanation  of  the  sketch,  though  of  late  some  have  seen  fit  to 
urge  that  the  significance  of  the  scene  is  a  heathen  one,  and  has  nothing  to  do  with 
Christ.    In  our  opinion,  however,  the  objections  raised  are  not  conclusive. 

1  On  S.  Anastasia,  see  Anal.  Jfom.,  t.  1,  p.  595  ff.,  with  plan,  p.  602.  Cp.  present 
work,  vol.  i.  p.  192. 


no.  397]      CHURCHES  ON  THE  PALATINE 


73 


already  know  the  story,  stood  on  the  north  side  of  the  Palatine, 
beside  the  ancient  Vesta  Temple,  and  can  be  traced  back  to 
Pope  Silvester ;  it  was  also  reckoned  the  first  among  the  Roman 
deaconries  ;  i.e.  it  stood  at  the  head  of  the  churches  officially 
entrusted  with  the  distribution  of  alms  and  with  works  of 
mercy.  Here,  too,  the  origin  of  this  honorary  precedence 
admits  of  no  doubt.  S.  Maria  Antiqua  was  the  deaconry  of 
the  Court.  In  S.  Anastasia  spiritual  blessings  were  bestowed  on 
the  soul ;  in  S.  Maria  the  Imperial  Vicars  dispensed  temporal 
help  to  impoverished  Rome.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that, 
at  S.  Maria,  a  Christian  sanctuary  was  brought  into  contrast 
with  a  site  of  idolatry,  and  that  such  a  contrast  in  the  fourth 
century  had  enormous  significance.  Mary,  the  Virgin  Mother 
of  our  Saviour,  was  here  pitted  against  Vesta,  whom  mythology 
regarded  as  the  Mother  and  Protectress  of  the  Roman  State, 
who  was  called  the  Virgin-goddess,  and  was  served  by  virgins. 
The  spiritual  combat  waged  here  in  front  of  the  portals  of 
the  abode  of  the  Vestals  has  already  been  alluded  to  in  our 
description  of  a  visit  to  the  Roman  Forum.1 

On  the  way  from  S.  Anastasia,  along  the  edge  of  the  hill, 
we  come  to  another  church,  the  Trullus  or  Rotunda  of  St. 
Theodore  (111.  183).2  The  mosaic  of  St.  Theodore,  an  Eastern 
saint,  in  the  principal  niche,  is  of  Byzantine  character,  and  may 
date  from  the  seventh  or  the  sixth  century.  The  foundations 
of  the  Rotunda  show,  however,  that  it  was  first  erected  almost 
in  classical  times.  May  it  not  have  been  the  Palatine,  i.e.  the 
Court  Baptistery  ?  The  Baptisteries  were  circular  in  form,  and 
we  know  from  other  sources  that,  in  the  year  403,  the  City 
Prefect,  Longinianus,  erected  a  Baptistery  for  the  church  of  S. 
Anastasia,  certainly  not  f  ar  from  the  present  building.  The  present 
Trullus,  however,  dates  almost  entirely  from  the  fifteenth  century.3 

1  Cp.  my  article  on  S.  Maria  Antiqua,  Civilta  catt.,  1896,  II.,  458-478,  with  plans,  pp. 
460  and  463.    Also  present  work,  vol  i.  p.  244  ff. 

a  The  diminutive  apse  at  the  back,  according  to  the  mosaic  in  its  interior,  is  as  old  as 
the  church,  and  belongs  to  rising  Christianity.  The  Clivus  Victorias  may  be  seen  to  the 
right  passing  through  ancient  ruins  on  its  way  up  the  side  of  the  Palatine  Hill.  Cp. 
this  with  our  plan  (111.  180),  where  the  situation  of  the  monuments  will  be  found  at  the 
bottom  and  to  the  left.  To  the  left  of  111.  183  appears  the  mediieval  Torre  delle  Mihzie, 
popularly  known  as  Torre  di  Nerone. 

3  Cp.  DE  ROSSI,  Miisaici,  for  the  above  mentioned  portrait,  where  St.  Theodore 
appears  on  the  right  hand  of  Christ,  with  another  martyr  on  the  left.  Regarding  the 
building,  see  Anal,  row.,  1,  603  ft.  The  Rotunda  was  rebuilt  by  Nicholas  V.,  whose  arms 
are  set  above  the  entrance.  The  Gothic  windows  and  the  frieze  of  the  roof  both  point 
to  this  period. 


74 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  397 


In  the  neighbourhood  of  S.  Anastasia,  but  on  the  top  of 
the  Palatine  Hill,  there  must  also  have  been  another  church, 
the  Oratory  of  S.  Caesarius  in  Palatio.  So  far  nothing  is 
known  with  certainty  about  its  situation.1 

With  regard  to  the  purpose  of  this  chapel  of  S.  Caesarius, 
we  know  that  it  served,  amongst  other  things,  to  receive  and 
retain  the  likenesses  of  the  Byzantine  Emperors.  The  portrait 
of  the  new  ruler  was  usually  brought  by  an  embassy  to  the 
large  cities,  and,  after  having  been  ceremoniously  received,  it  was 
put  up  in  a  shrine.  In  effigy  the  Emperor  still  reigned  upon  the 
Palatine.  Within  due  limits  the  Church  surrounded  his  divinely 
instituted  authority  with  a  halo  of  respect,  particularly  on  that 
spot  where  Emperors,  in  their  ludicrous  presumption,  had  once 
deified  themselves.  The  name  of  this  Oratory  seems  to  have 
been  selected,  agreeably  with  the  taste  of  the  time  ;  owing  to 
the  resemblance  between  Caesarius  and  Caesar,  the  title  of  S. 
Caesarius  seemed  appropriate  on  the  hill  of  the  Caesars.  The 
title  Saint  Caesarius  also  proclaimed  the  Christian  character  of 
the  reigning  Caesars.2 

A  Greek  monastery  grew  up  later  near  S.  Caesarius.  During 
the  Middle  Ages  it  stood  first  in  rank  among  the  twenty  abbeys 
in  Rome,  an  honour  which  it  indubitably  owed,  like  S.  Anastasia 
and  S.  Maria  Antiqua,  to  its  proximity  to  the  Court  and  the 
Exarch.  In  a  certain  sense  it  must  have  been  the  monastery 
of  the  Court,  and,  just  like  the  parish  church  of  the  Court  and 
the  Court  deaconry,  it  was  fitting  that  the  monastery  of  the 
Greek  Court  should  enjoy  special  privileges. 

The  commencement  of  the  Latin  monastery  of  S.  Maria  in 
Pallara,  on  the  Palatine  opposite  the  Coliseum,  is  obscure.  The 
Oratory  existing  there,  and  said  to  have  been  built  on  the 
site  of  St.  Sebastian's  martyrdom,  is,  at  any  rate,  very  ancient. 

An  official  continued  to  be  entrusted  with  the  cura  palatii. 
This  we  may  gather  from  the  name  of  one  named  Plato,  mentioned 

1  This  church  must  not  be  confused  with  that  on  the  Appian  Way,  as  Duchesne  has 
shown  in  the  Bull,  crit.,  1885,  417  ff.  Cp.  DE  ROSSI,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1885,  p.  327. 
Lanciani,  in  his  Forma  urbls,  places  it  below  the  Palatine,  opposite  the  Temple  of  Venus 
and  Roma,  among  the  ruins,  which,  for  no  reason  whatever,  were  called  the  Baths  of 
Heliogabalus  ;  Duchesne  had,  however,  previously  rightly  called  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  Turin  Catalogue  of  the  churches  of  Rome,  a  work  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
names  S.  Caesarius  in  Palatio  immediately  after  S.  Anastasia  and  S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin. 
Liber  pout.,  1,  377,  note  12. 

2  On  the  conveyance  of  the  portrait  of  the  Emperor  Phocas  to  S.  Caesarius  in  Palatio 
under  Gregory  I.,  see  Greg.  Opp.,  ed.  Maur.,  Epistolarum  App.,  xii. 


NO.  398] 


LAMPS 


75 


in  the  seventh  century.  Plato's  epitaph  was  in  St.  Anas- 
tasia's,  and  was  put  up,  in  686,  by  his  son,  who  later  became 
Pope  John  VII.  It  praises  Plato's  solicitude  for  the  " prisca 
palatia  Romae"  and  particularly  mentions  that  he  restored  the 
lofty  staircase  of  the  Palace.  This  last  statement  must  allude 
to  the  still  partly  visible  staircase  leading  down  beside  S.  Maria 
Antiqua  from  the  Palatine,  which  was  the  principal  thoroughfare 
to  the  Forum  and  the  City  ;  it  was  also  near  this  church  that 
John  VII.  built  himself  an  episcopal  residence  {episcopiuni)  ;  he 
also  beautified  the  church  itself.1 

398.  Small  artistic  objects,  mementoes  of  the  first  Christian 
denizens  of  the  Imperial  palaces,  have  occasionally,  even  to 
quite  recent  times,  been  brought  to  light  by  excavations  at  that 
world-famed  spot. 

The  large  collection  of  clay  lamps  with  Christian  symbols, 
discovered  under  Pius  IX.  on  the  Clivus  Victorias,  i.e.  on  the  side 
of  the  Palatine  above  the  Forum  just  described,  is  particularly 
attractive.  These  lamps  must  have  served  for  official  illumina- 
tions in  the  inhabited  part  of  the  Palace,  on  festive  occasions, 
secular  or  religious.  In  classic  times,  just  as  to-day,  the  Romans 
were  wont  to  mark  their  merry-making  by  illuminations,  and  the 
Byzantines  certainly  adopted  the  custom  from  Rome.  It  is  told 
of  Constantine  the  Great,  that  he  had  his  new  City  on  the 
Bosphorus  brilliantly  illuminated  from  end  to  end  on  Easter  night. 
In  the  North  African  provinces,  where  at  present  constant  new 
discoveries  are  ever  bringing  fresh  information  concerning  the 
habits  of  Imperial  Rome,  some  fine  collections  of  little  lamps  for 
illumination  have  been  unearthed  (111.  184). 2 

The  Palatine  lamps  mostly  display  monograms  of  Christ  or 
monogram  crosses  of  various  shapes  ;  also  the  fish  and  the  mystic 
palm-tree — in  one  instance,  that  of  a  Jewish  lamp,  we  even  find 
the  seven-branched  candlestick.  On  another  lamp  we  see  dis- 
played a  scene  which  has  a  special  bearing  on  the  Palatine  and 

1  For  Plato's  epitaph,  see  DE  Rossi,  Inscr.  chrisl.,  2,  1,  442,  n.  153  ;  cp.  Bull.  arch, 
crist.,  1867,  p.  10.  For  the  buildings  of  John  VII.,  see  Liber  pont.,  1,  385,  n.  167.  Cp. 
Civil td  call.,  1896,  II.,  461  ff. 

2  On  the  lamps  discovered,  and,  generally,  on  the  Christian  antiquities  of  the  Palatine, 
see  DE  ROSSI,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1867,  p.  9  ff.  On  Constantinople,  EuSEB.,  Vita  Constan- 
tini,  4,  c.  22.  At  other  spots  in  Rome  similar  collections  of  small  lamps  have  also  been 
found,  some  belonging  to  classical  and  some  to  Christian  times.  They  are  usually  of  red 
or  yellowish  clay. 


76 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  398 


its  spiritual  transformation  ;  it  shows  the  figure  of  our  Saviour 
holding  the  triumphant  staff  of  the  Cross  in  His  hand,  and  placing 
His  foot  upon  the  head  of  the  dragon,  while  a  serpent  and  a  lion 
vainly  threaten  the  Victor  of  the  world,  thus  exemplifying  the 
words  of  the  Psalmist  :  "Thou  shalt  walk  upon  the  asp  and  the 
basilisk  ;  thou  shalt  trample  under  foot  the  lion  and  the  dragon  " 
(Ps.  xc.  13).  This  particular  instance  is  one  of  the  oldest  of  the 
use  of  this  scene,  which  became  a  favourite  in  Byzantine  art. 
That  the  lamp  is  Byzantine  work  is  sufficiently  clear  from  the  tall 
and  stiffly  solemn  figure  of  Christ  (111.  185).1 

But  Byzantine  and  Roman,  Christian  and  Jewish  products  are 
not  the  only  ones  represented  among  these  lamps  ;  some,  from 
their  decoration  and  the  white  clay  of  which  they  consist,  must 
have  come  from  Egypt  or  the  Holy  Land.  Hence  these  compara- 
tively insignificant  objects  prove  in  a  sense  how  world-wide  was 
the  importance  of  that  Roman  Palatine  where  they  were  found. 
In  connection  with  these  Eastern  lamps,  de  Rossi  reminds  us  that, 
from  the  sixth  to  the  eighth  century,  the  soldiers  and  courtiers 
who  formed  the  retinue  of  the  Imperial  representatives  often  came 
from  remote  regions  of  the  East.2 

A  large  clasp  of  pure  gold  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  which  was 
found  accidentally  in  1895  at  the  so-called  Domitian  Stadium,  may 
have  belonged  to  one  of  these  foreign  nobles.  It  is  one  of  those 
fibula  which  were  used  to  fasten  over  the  shoulder  the  ends  of 
the  chlamys,  or  Byzantine  Court  dress.  In  this  case  a  second 
cross  may  be  perceived,  surrounded  by  birds.3 

We  may  only  allude  cursorily  to  the  early  Christian  articles 
brought  to  light  in  the  same  Stadium  in  1893,  consisting  of  plates, 
lamps,  and  amphorae.  One  of  the  latter  bore  in  red  on  its  neck 
the  first  letters  of  the  names  of  Christ,  Michael,  and  Gabriel.4 

1  Reproduction  in  DE  ROSSI,  I.e.,  p.  12  f.  Cp.  with  figure  in  KRAUS,  Gesch.  der  chr. 
Kunst,  1,  487,  and  in  Revue  de  Part  chrdtien,  1889- 1893  (on  Africa).  Cp.  the  clay  lamp 
with  Christ  as  Dragon-slayer  in  Kraus,  ibid.,  p.  108,  who  states  that  three  examples  of 
this  scene  are  known,  dating  from  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries. 

2  De  ROSSI,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  I.e. 

3  Description  and  illustration  of  this  clasp,  now  at  the  Museo  Nazionale  in  Rome,  in 
Notizie  degli  scavi,  1895,  p.  360. 

4  On  the  fragments  of  an  amphora  with  X.M.r.  (Xpiaros,  Mix<n}\,  Tapp^X),  see  Notizie 
degli  scavi,  1893,  p.  118.    Cp.  DE  ROSSI,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1890,  p.  41.    On  the  other 

articles,  Notizie,  I.e.,  p.  163  ;  some  of  the  lamps  have  ^  in  relief ;  ^^^^  is  borne  as  a 

stamp  by  the  handle  of  an  amphora  ;  there  are  also  two  large  monograms  of  Christ,  with 
dolphins,  on  a  plate  made  of  red  clay 


184. — Ancient  Christian  Terra-cotta  Lamps  from  North 


Conqueror  of  the  Dragon. 
(From  the  Palatine.) 


No.  398] 


LAMPS 


77 


Such  discoveries  may  seem  trivial  and  superfluous  for  the 
reader's  instruction,  but  they  nevertheless  are  important  for  the  his- 
tory of  the  Palatine — indeed,  seemingly  insignificant  archaeological 
finds  often  throw  an  astonishing  amount  of  light  on  the  history  of 
Roman  civilisation  and  topography.  For  instance,  the  Christian 
memorials  found  in  the  so-called  Palatine  Stadium  point  to  the 
fact  of  the  southern  end  of  the  ancient  residence  having,  in  all 
probability,  been  inhabited  even  in  the  centuries  which  followed 
Constantine. 


CHAPTER  III 


GREEK  COLONIES  IN  AND  NEAR  ROME 

From  Aquae  Salviae  (Tre  Fontane)  to  the  Schola  Graeca 
and  to  Narses*  Church  of  the  Apostles 

399.  Narses  immortalised  his  name  at  the  spot  near  Rome  where 
St.  Paul  was  beheaded  ;  with  his  great  wealth  he  there  founded 
a  Greek  monastery,  perhaps  the  oldest  Greek  one  in  Rome. 

This  spot  was  then  called  Aquae  Salvias,  and  lay  not  far  from 
the  Ostian  Way,  more  than  a  Roman  mile  beyond  the  Basilica  of 
St.  Paul,  on  an  ancient  road  branching  off  the  Via  Ostia.  This 
was  the  Via  Laurentina  which  led  towards  Laurentum  and  the 
sea.  Quite  near  this  site  a  small  heathen  temple  built  of  blocks 
of  tufa  was  discovered  not  long  ago.  It  stood  close  by  the 
springs,  which  had  a  repute  even  in  Pagan  times,  and  which  gave 
the  place  its  name.  These  same  springs  in  later  times  were 
popularly  believed  to  have  miraculously  gushed  forth  from  the 
three  spots  touched  by  the  head  of  the  Apostle  as  it  fell  after  his 
decapitation.1 

Any  one  nowadays  pilgriming  to  this  lonely  region  has  no 
sooner  left  St.  Paul's  behind  him,  than  he  finds  himself  in  a 
characteristic  scene  of  the  Roman  Campagna.  The  verdant  plain 
upon  which  flocks  are  feeding,  bounded  in  the  distance  by  the 
Alban  Hills,  is  broken  by  low  ridges,  which  descend  towards  the 
Tiber  on  the  right  in  soft  undulating  lines.  Here  and  there  the 
evenness  of  the  fair  hills,  as  is  so  often  the  case  in  the  volcanic 
Campagna,  sinks  in  abrupt  hollows,  the  rugged  edges  of  which 
are  covered  with  dark  heather.  Upon  many  a  knoll  in  this  broad 
wavy  plain,  humble  homesteads  and  quiet  farms  have  been  estab- 
lished on  the  site  of  the  grand  villas  of  ancient  Rome,  and  in 
some  cases  actually  rest  on  the  foundations  of  the  olden  edifices. 

1  The  tufa  blocks  from  this  building,  which  were  unhappily  taken  away  after  dis- 
covery, now  serve  as  borders  to  the  paths  in  the  garden  of  the  neighbouring  Trappist 
monastery.  On  the  Via  Laurentina,  cp.  TOMASSETTI,  Archivio  stor.  rom.,  1894,  p.  68  ff.  ; 
1896,  p.  135. 

78 


No.  399] 


AQXJJE  SALVIA 


79 


In  the  lower  parts  of  the  district  brooks  meander  through  the 
damp  meadows,  scarcely  noticeable  save  for  their  mysterious 
murmur.  Near  a  bridge  over  one  of  these  rivulets  (Ponticello) 
the  Via  Laurentina  diverges  on  the  left  from  the  Ostian  Way, 
and  ascends  the  eminence  formerly  dominated  by  a  mediaeval 
fortress.  Thence  the  eye  can  descry  the  melancholy  ruins  of 
other  olden  watch-towers,  which  once  guarded  St.  Paul's,  its 
monastery,  and  the  surrounding  land  tilled  by  the  monks.  In 
earlier  times  pious  souls  might  have  been  seen  wending  their  way 
through  the  vineyards  to  the  left  to  visit  the  cemetery  of  St. 
Thecla,  with  its  large  underground  church,  which  now  rests 
peacefully  beneath  a  hill  covered  by  a  farm.  On  the  right  below, 
on  the  bank  of  the  Tiber,  which  here  flows  in  a  broad  reach,  lay 
Vicus  Alexandri,  an  old  river-port  of  Rome  much  frequented  by 
seamen  and  merchants,  but  long  since  destroyed.  Some  time- 
eaten  relics  of  mortuary  monuments,  and  traces  of  enormous 
Roman  sewers,  are  all  that  remain  to  remind  us  that  when  St. 
Paul  passed  along  this  road  on  his  way  to  death,  this  place  was  a 
busy  haunt  of  men. 

Having  reached  the  top  of  the  Via  Latirentina,  we  see  at 
last  the  present  monastery  of  Aquae  Salvias  or  Tre  Fontane,  in 
a  pleasant  vale,  nestling  in  repose  and  recollection  among  lofty 
eucalyptus  trees.  In  its  present  form  it  is  the  best  preserved 
mediaeval  abbey  of  Rome,  and  the  impression  of  hoary  antiquity 
made  by  the  harmonious  combination  of  buildings,  gardens,  and 
woods,  and  the  memory  of  the  twin  founders,  Bernard  of  Clairvaux 
and  Pope  Eugenius  III.,  is  even  increased  by  the  white-garbed 
figures  of  the  Trappists  who  now  inhabit  it.  The  two  handsome 
modern  churches  which  rise  among'  the  foliage  near  the  ancient 
pillared  basilica  and  the  weather-beaten  monastery  walls  scarcely 
clash  with  the  visitor's  agreeable  sense  of  being  here  carried  back 
to  the  Church's  early  days. 

Quite  a  century  before  Narses,  the  so-called  Acts  of  Peter 
and  Paul  speak  of  this  spot  as  the  site  of  St.  Paul's  beheading. 
Besides,  at  an  early  date,  various  notices,  dating  almost  from 
Constantine's  time,  allude  to  certain  local  reminiscences  of  Paul's 
death,  which  are  probably  connected  with  this  place.  Both  in 
tradition  and  in  art  we  find  the  pine-tree  and  the  reed,  testifying 
to  a  damp  soil,  used  as  symbols  of  the  place,  just  as  the  terebinth, 
from  earliest  times  was  associated  with  the  Tomb   of  Peter. 


8o 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  399 


Moreover,  even  before  Constantine,  a  Christian  graveyard,  the 
Ccemeterium  Zenonis,  existed  near  Aquae  Salviae.1 

Pope  Gregory  the  Great  merely  penned  the  firm  conviction 
of  his  day,  when  he  stated  that  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles 
suffered  death  for  Christ  at  Aquae  Salviae.  In  the  next  century, 
and  surely  even  earlier,  Roman  pilgrims,  were  wont  to  seek 
the  monastery  founded  by  Narses  at  this  hallowed  spot ;  the 
seventh-century  pilgrim  itineraries  expressly  mention  this  shrine.2 

Even  the  excavations  have  also  given  noteworthy  support  to 
the  tradition  attaching  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  three  springs. 
During  the  work  begun  in  1867,  an  inscription  of  the  year  688 
or  689,  was  found,  according  to  which  the  church  erected  on 
the  site  of  the  martyrdom  had  already,  under  Pope  Sergius  I., 
"long  been  in  existence."  It  was  a  church,  as  its  traces  still 
show,  which  was  built  on  the  hill  on  the  same  spot  and  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  present  one,  which  dates  from  Cardinal 
Aldobrandini,  in  1540.  According  to  drawings  made  before  Aldo- 
brandini's  time,  it  consisted  of  a  sort  of  double  building  running 
parallel  with  the  springs.  Remains  of  marble  sculpture,  brought 
to  light  in  the  excavations  during  the  'sixties,  might,  judging  by 
their  art,  belong  to  the  Byzantine  structure  erected  by  Narses.3 

1  The  legend  of  the  miraculous  origin  of  the  three  springs  first  appears  in  a  spurious 
late  homily  of  St.  Chrysostom.  The  lipases  Ulrpov  ko.1  IlauXou  of  Pseudo-Marcellus  has 
nothing  at  all  about  it,  but  give  the  place  of  death,  clearly  enough,  as :  /«Wa  KaXovfi^y) 
'Akkovm  2a\/3ias  TrXr/fTiov  tou  StvSpov  tou  arpofiiKov.  LlPSlUS,  Die  apokryphen  Apostelgesch., 
2,  1,  284  ff.  ;  TiSCHENDORF,  Acta  Petri  ct  Pauli,  p.  35.  Cp.  for  these  and  other  data, 
DE  ROSSI,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1869,  p.  83  ff.,  and  KlRSCH,  Rom.  Quartalschr.,  2  (1888), 
p.  233  ff.  De  Waal  (Dcr  Sarkophag  des  Junius  Bassus,  1900,  p.  51)  draws  attention  to 
the  reed  in  the  background  of  the  scene,  showing  St.  Paul  being  led  to  martyrdom  ;  he 
also  thinks  that  the  ships  visible  on  other  sarcophagi  confirm  the  supposition  that  this 
martyrdom  took  place  here,  near  the  Tiber.  Cp.  PRUDENTIUS,  Pcristeph.,  12,  1  :  "  Scit 
Tibcrina  palus,  quae  flumine  lambitur  propinquo"  &c.  On  the  yet  scarcely  explored 
Coemetcrium  Zenonis,  see  DE  ROSSI,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1871,  p.  74  ;  ARMELLINI,  Cimiteri, 
1893,  p.  500  ff. 

2  Greg.  M.,  "praeccpfum"  in  his  Register,  14,  n.  14;  Jaffe-Ewald,  n.  1991.  On 
the  contemporary  inscription  with  the  text  of  the  "command,"  see  Anal,  rom.,  1,  158, 
with  commentary  and  photo.,  PI.  3,  n.  2.  The  Itineraries  in  DE  ROSSI,  Roma  sott.,  I., 
182  ff.  and  141.  According  to  the  latter  passage  a  "  monasterium"  existed  about  the  time 
of  Pope  Honorius  near  Aqua?  Salvia?.  The  chronicler  Benedict  of  Soracte,  about  the 
year  1000,  was  the  first  to  state  that  Narses  was  the  founder,  but  de  Rossi  rightly  con- 
siders the  statement  worthy  of  belief.  This  monk  Benedict  repeatedly  borrows  his 
information  from  inscriptions  which  have  not  come  down  to  us.  BENED.  Sor.,  Chronicon, 
n.  9,  ed.  Pertz.  (A/on.  Germ,  hist.,  Scriptt.,  3),  699  :  "  Narsus  fecit  aecclesia  cum  monas- 
terium beati  Pauli  apostoli  qui  dicitur  ad  Aquas  Salvias."  DE  ROSSI,  Bull.  arch,  crist., 
1887,  p.  79.  Cp.  I.,  GiORGl,  Cenni  sulP  origine  del  monastcro  di  s.  Anastasio  ad  Aquas 
Salvias  (Arch.  stor.  rotn.,  1  (1877),  49). 

3  The  inscription  in  DE  ROSSI,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1869,  p.  83.  On  the  form  of  the 
earliest  church,  see  also  KlRSCH,  Rom.  Quartalschr.,  I.e.  The  sculpture,  remains  of 
banisters,  &c,  have  been  put  up  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  mediaeval  monastery 
church  of  SS.  Vincenzo  ed  Anastasio. 


No.  399] 


AQU/E  SALVIA 


81 


The  monastery  Ad  Aquas  Sak'ias  remained  a  Greek  settle- 
ment well  into  the  Middle  Ages.  In  the  tenth  century  the 
Romans  told  St.  Nilus  of  Calabria,  when  offering  him  the 
monastery  for  a  Greek  colony  of  monks,  that  it  had  always  been 
in  possession  of  the  "  Graecanician  "  nation.1 

Even  in  the  seventh  century,  it  was  already  called  in  allusion 
to  its  inmates,  "  Monastery  of  Cilicia,"  evidently  because  it 
belonged  to  monks  hailing  from  the  province  of  Cilicia  in  Asia 
Minor.  Now,  in  Cilicia  was  Tarsus,  Paul's  birthplace  ;  hence  it 
would  seem  that  he  was  venerated  here,  on  the  spot  of  his 
glorious  martyrdom,  by  pious  ascetics  from  his  native  home  ; 
nor  would  it  be  at  all  strange,  or  out  of  keeping  with  the 
customs  of  the  sixth  century,  had  Narses  himself,  for  this  very 
reason,  imported  Cilician  monks  into  Rome's  earliest  Greek 
monastery.  Constantine  the  Great  provides  us  with  a  comparison. 
He  endowed  the  memorial  basilica  which  he  built  to  St.  Paul  with 
many  gifts  of  landed  property,  the  list  including,  according  to  the 
Liber pontificalis,  an  island  "  Gordianon,  below  Tarsus  in  Cilicia." 
We  may  therefore  infer  that  at  that  day  there  was  a  wish  that  the 
region  of  Tarsus  should  show  its  gratitude  at  the  very  place 
hallowed  by  the  entry  of  the  Apostle  into  life  everlasting,  for 
having  been  privileged  to  be  the  earthly  home  of  the  Roman 
witness  of  Christ.2 

The  Eastern  character  of  the  monastery  of  Aquae  Salviae  clearly 
accounts  also  for  its  obtaining  the  head  of  the  famous  Persian 
martyr  Anastasius,  which  brought  it  fresh  renown.  When  this 
relic  reached  Rome  from  the  East  under  Pope  Honorius,  it  was 
handed  over  to  the  care  of  the  Greek  monks  at  the  place  of 
martyrdom  of  St.  Paul ;  from  this  relic,  in  turn,  comes  the  later 
name  of   Monastery  of  St.  Anastasius,  which  later  still  was 

1  "  Graecanicae genii  semper  addic/uin."  Vita  s.  Nili  /at.  redd,  a  Caryopliilo  (Romae, 
1624),  p.  153,  in  GlORGl,  I.e.,  p.  55.  Under  Hadrian  I.  {Liber  pont.,  512,  n.  354),  the 
abbey  or  "yguwenarc/iiieni"  is  mentioned.  The  contemporary  story  of  an  exorcism  which 
took  place  in  the  monastery  in  713  (Ana/.  Bol/and.,  11,  1892,  234),  also  presupposes  that 
there  were  Greek  monks,  and  mentions  the  "mansio  [  =  M-ovif]  sanctae  Mariae  Dei- 
genitriris." 

2  At  the  Roman  Council  of  649,  according  to  Mansi,  there  was  present:  reupyws 
irpecr/3i)repoj  Kal  yyov/ievot  rfjs  evayovs  fiovr/s  twv  KiXi/cwe  tt)s  evddoe  7rapoiKoi/<r?7S  eis  tt\v  (TriXeyov/j.ei'rjv 
'AKovaao-aXpias.  Cp.  the  novi]  twu  ' Apfj.-qviuv  of  Rome  also  mentioned  there.  According 
to  the  same  text,  the  Greek  abbots  and  monks  in  Rome  formed  a  koivov  (corpus).  The 
name  of  "  Cilician  monastery  "  appears  in  the  Acts  of  the  CEcumenical  Council  of  680, 
with  the  further  explanation:  "which  is  called  Baias."  This  must  mean  Baias  on  the 
coast  of  Cilicia,  and  not  Sicily,  where  there  was  no  such  town.  Mabillon  (Anna/.  Ord. 
S.  Bened.,  1,  an.  649)  is  wrong  in  saying  that  Greek  monks  first  came  to  Tre  Fontane 
in  649. 

VOL.  III.  F 


82 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  4oo 


qualified  by  the  addition  "at  the  Three  Springs."  Originally, 
however,  it  would  seem  that  the  monastery  of  Narses  was 
dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Virgin.  It  was  certainly  not  styled 
"  Monastery  of  St.  Paul,"  for  the  monastery  of  that  name  already 
existed  at  the  Tomb  of  the  Apostle  near  his  basilica,  and  was 
occupied  by  Latin  monks.  Thus  did  Latin  and  Greek  ascetics 
vie  with  each  other  in  those  hallowed  meadows  in  zeal  for  the 
honour  of  the  martyr ;  for  he  was  indeed  the  "  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles,"  who  had  converted  "  the  whole  world,"  and  preached 
to  both  East  and  West. 

400.  In  the  days  of  Narses  the  Apostles  SS.  Philip  and  James 
also  were  honoured  with  a  splendid  church  modelled  on  the 
famous  one  to  the  Apostles  in  Constantinople.  On  the  way 
to  it,  passing  down  the  road  which  leads  from  Aquae  Salvise  to 
this  church,  we  may  be  allowed  to  call  the  reader's  attention  to 
the  other  Greek  ecclesiastical  monuments,  which,  by  no  mere 
accident,  are  grouped  together  on  this  road. 

Our  way,  especially  after  we  have  entered  the  City  through 
the  Ostian  Gate,  takes  us  past  a  whole  series  of  sacred  fanes, 
which  are  either  of  Greek  origin  or  contain  Grecian  reminiscences. 
It  even  leads  us  to  the  Greek  quarter,  close  to  the  Tiber,  near 
the  quays  used  by  ships  hailing  from  the  East.  This  quarter, 
now  that  Narses,  by  his  success  in  war,  had  restored  Byzantine 
rule,  was  doubtless  more  animated  than  of  yore.  Many  of  the 
monuments  and  edifices  of  which  we  shall  speak  belong  to  the 
period  of  this  General  or  of  the  early  Exarchs. 

First  of  all,  before  the  walls  of  the  great  Basilica  of  St.  Paul's, 
comes  the  cemetery  in  which  Greeks  and  Latins  lie  together  in 
peace.  From  this  cemetery  and  from  the  Basilica  itself  the 
present  monastery  of  St.  Paul  has  secured  a  goodly  store  of 
Greek  epitaphs.  The  last  one  bearing  a  definite  date  belongs 
to  the  year  534.1 

According  to  one  inscription  there,  which  gives  us  the  details, 
a  certain  Eusebius — whose  name  denotes  a  Greek  origin — had 
the  vast  cemetery  carefully  restored  towards  the  end  of  the  sixth 
or  beginning  of  the  seventh  century.  The  work  was  carried  out 
on  the  porticoes  and  pictures  of  the  churchyard,  on  its  tesselated 
pavements,  on  its  benches,  windows,  roofs,  and  outbuildings. 

1  De  ROSSI,  Inscr.  christ.,  1,  476,  n.  1048. 


no.  400]  GREEK  SETTLEMENTS 


83 


This  worthy  man  and  the  alumni  who  helped  him  deserve  our 
thanks  for  their  enumeration  of  all  these  things,  for  no  text  so 
well  as  this  wordy  inscription  enables  us  to  understand  the 
particulars  of  the  vast  cemeterial  establishments  attached  to  the 
great  Basilicas  outside  the  City.  It  tells  us  of  structures  with  an 
upper  room  ;  of  others  provided  with  a  bath  ;  of  apses  closed  by 
screens  ;  of  a  tunnel  leading  to  the  tombs  of  the  martyrs,  and  of 
marble  tables  set  beside  these  tombs.  This  aforesaid  tunnel 
(introitus  ad  martyres)  may  have  led  the  visitor  to  a  spot  especi- 
ally dear  to  the  people  of  Antioch.  A  priest  of  Antioch,  named 
Timothy  and  worshipped  as  a  saint,  rested  near  St.  Paul,  in  an 
underground  crypt,  topped  by  an  oratory.  The  statements  of 
Eusebius  are  unhappily  too  vague  to  do  more  than  arouse  our 
curiosity.  No  archaeological  or  historical  knowledge  can  suffice 
to  do  full  justice  to  the  handsome  buildings  of  the  great  Graeco- 
Latin  Cemetery  of  St.  Paul.1 

Let  us  now  proceed  in  the  direction  of  Rome  up  the  long, 
covered  portico  which  leads  to  the  Gate  and  thence  into  the  City. 
We  next  reach  an  Alexandrian  shrine,  standing  at  no  great 
distance  from  St.  Paul's  and  quite  close  to  the  portico.  This 
is  the  church  of  the  martyred  Menas.  This  witness  to  the  Faith 
lay  buried  at  Alexandria,  but  his  Greek  fellow-townsman  had 
carried  his  fame  throughout  the  Empire.  Little  vases  with  por- 
traits of  Menas,  particularly  with  him  depicted  praying  between 
two  camels,  have  been  found  in  Rome  and  other  places  (111.  186). 
They  formerly  held  drops  of  the  oil  burning  at  his  tomb  in  Egypt. 
Pilgrims  when  visiting  famous  shrines  were  wont  to  carry  away 
such  filled  ampullae,  which  were  called  "  Eulogies,"  and  were 
deemed  a  sort  of  relic.  The  description  left  by  the  anonymous 
writer  of  Einsiedeln  in  the  eighth  century  alludes  to  this  church 
of  St.  Menas  as  the  chief  object  on  the  road  between  St.  Paul's 
and  the  City.  Already  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  we  hear  of 
Gregory  the  Great  making  a  station  and  preaching  a  sermon  in 
this  "Basilica"  of  an  Eastern  martyr.2 

1  Photo,  of  the  inscription,  Anal,  rom.,  I,  PI.  3,  n.  4,  with  notes  on  pp.  156  and  100. 
Cp.  de  Rossi,  Roma  sott.,  III.,  463  ff. 

2  ARMELLINI,  C/iiese2,  p.  927.  The  little  oil-jars  often  bear  the  inscription  :  ETAOTCA 
TOT  AriOT  MHNA.  Specimens  of  these  in  KRAUS,  Gesch.  der  chr.  Kunst,  1,  524  ;  DE 
Waal,  Rom.  Quartalschr.,  1896,  p.  244  ff.,  PI.  4.  Itincrarium  F.insicdlcnse :  "  hide  \scil. 
a  porta  ostiensi]  per  porticum  usque  ad  ccclesiam  Menne  et  de  Menne  usque  ad  sanctum 
/'aiituin"  De  Rossi,  Inscr.  c/irist.,  2,  1,  p.  31.  Greg.,  Horn.  35  in  Evang.,  beginning  : 
"  Quia  longius  ab  urbe  digressi  sumus."    On  Menas,  see  also  Delehaye,  Ugendes 


84 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  4o, 


We  learn  from  the  fragment  of  a  Greek  inscription  about  a 
corporation  (Soma/iou)  formed  of  Alexandrians  in  Rome,  who 
under  their  president  founded  an  oratory  or  a  church  shortly 
before  this  time  to  "  the  most  holy  Menas  "  at  some  place  not 
named.1 

Immediately  before  reaching  the  Ostian  Gate  we  again  see  an 


111.  1 86. — Oil  Vases  from  the  Tomb  of  St.  Menas  with  the  Figure  of  the 
Saint  and  the  Monogram. 


oratory,  near  the  Pyramid  of  Cestius,  dedicated  to  the  Greek 
deacon  and  martyr  Euplus  of  Catania  in  Sicily.  Pope  Theodore, 
a  native  of  Jerusalem,  erected  it  about  the  middle  of  the  seventh 
century.2 

401.  On  the  Ostian  Gate  itself  the  Byzantine  cross  previously 
mentioned  is  also  a  memorial  of  that  period. 

Having  entered  the  City,  we  at  once  see  on  an  eminence  to 
the  right  the  church  and  monastery  of  St.  Saba,  a  native  of 
Palestine,  who  founded  the  great  Lavra  near  Jerusalem. 

hagiographigues,  p.  240.  That  these  vases  should  invariably  show  two  camels,  instead 
of  one,  seems  to  be  simply  the  result  of  the  prevailing  rules  of  artistic  symmetry.  Cp. 
LECLERCQ,  art.  Ampoules  et  Eulogies,  in  Cabrol,  Diet.  (Parch,  chre't.  ct  cle  Liturgie. 

1  Inscription  in  DE  ROSSI,  Inscr.  christ.,  2,  1,  p.  455,  of  the  year  589.  This  is  the 
inscription  which  tells  us  of  the  Exarch  Julian.    See  above,  p.  64. 

2  Liber po?it.,  1,  333,  TJieodorus,  n.  128.  Armellini,  Chiese*,  p.  925.  TomasSETTI, 
I.e.,  1894,  p.  86. 


No.  4oi]  GREEK  SETTLEMENTS 


»5 


It  was  established  by  Greek  monks,  who  perhaps  wished  in 
some  measure  to  imitate  here  in  Rome  the  famous  Cellae  of 
the  Jerusalem  Lavra ;  the  name  Cellae  novae  applied  to  this 
structure  may  contain  an  allusion  to  this.  This  name  occurs  in 
the  eighth  century,  but  in  649  the  monastery  most  likely  already 
had  a  Greek  abbot ;  at  any  rate  this  place  was  already  much 
favoured  by  St.  Silvia,  Gregory  the  Great's  mother,  who  lived 
there  in  pious  seclusion.  Quite  recently  the  remains  of  the 
original  Greek  foundation  were  found  below  the  present  church  ; 
it  was  then  seen  that  the  first  church  had  been  established  in  a 
hall  dating  from  the  Late  Empire  :  this  original  church  must  be 
the  oratory  of  St.  Silvia,  spoken  of  by  John  the  Deacon.1  The 
old  monastery  and  its  venerable  church  now  belong  to  the  German 
College  in  Rome,  and  their  solitude  is  often  broken  by  the  light- 
hearted  students  who  resort  thither  for  recreation.2 

Having  passed  the  Emporium,  and  then  the  horrea  or  ware- 
houses of  the  thirteenth  and  eleventh  regions,  following  the  course 
of  the  Tiber,  we  find  ourselves  at  last  in  the  Forum  Boarium,  the 
headquarters  of  Greek  life  in  Rome.  The  name  of  Schola  Graeca, 
found  in  the  Einsiedeln  Guide,  and  the  memory  of  which  is  even 
now  retained  by  the  Via  della  Greca,  reminds  us  of  the  olden 
associations  of  this  ancient  market-place.3 

In  this  vicinity,  too,  we  find  S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin,  popularly 
known  as  Bocca  della  Verita.  The  word  Cosmedin,  signifying 
"  decorated,"  is  evidently  borrowed  from  the  Greek.  There  was, 
moreover,  a  Cosmedin  in  Constantinople,  another  in  Naples,  and 
a  third  in  Ravenna.4 

The  neighbouring  S.  Anastasia  or  Palatine  church  of  the 
Anastasis,  enthroned  above  the  Circus,  also  discloses  plainly 
its  Byzantine  origin.  It  was  here  that  Leo  the  Great  gave 
timely  warning  against  the  Alexandrian  merchants,  who  were 

1  Cp.  my  art.  Archeologica  (Civiltd  catt.,  1901,  2-3;  1905,  3). 

2  John  the  Deacon,  in  the  ninth  century,  states  that  St.  Silvia  had  lived  "loco  qui 
dicitur  cella  nova"  near  St.  Saba's.  Vita  Greg.,  1,  c.  9.  Now,  in  the  Liber  pont.,  1,  471, 
Stephan.  III.  (768-772),  n.  272,  the  building  is  called  " Monasterium  Cellanovas."  The 
abbots  attended  the  sixth  and  seventh  (Ecumenical  Councils.  For  the  abbot,  in  649  (who,  in 
MaNSI,  10,  903,  makes  his  appearance  in  the  Acts  of  the  Roman  Council),  see  Ehrhard, 
Rom.  Quartalschr.,  1893,  p.  39. 

3  Lanciani,  Itinerario  di  Einsiedeln,  p.  511  ff. 

4  Armei.LINI,  Chiese2,  p.  600.  On  the  origin  and  design  of  the  church,  see  STEVEN- 
SON, Rom.  Quartalsc/ir.,  7  ( 1 893),  1 1  ff . ;  also,  for  some  new  matter  and  good  illustrations, 
Giovenale,  Annitario  dclP  associasione  artistica  fra  i  cullori  di  architettura,  an.  1895. 
Grisar,  Ste.  Marie  de  Cosmedin  a  Rome,  Rev.  de  fart  chre't.,  May  1898,  and  Sla.  Maria 
in  Cosmedin,  Civiltd  catt.,  1899,  IV.,  p.  725  ff. 


86 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  402 


disseminating  their  own  Eastern  heresies  among  the  unsuspect- 
ing people  of  Rome.1 

Not  far  off,  near  the  four-arched  monument  of  Janus  on  the  open 
place  called  the  Velabrum,  stood  a  church  to  George,  the  Greek 
saint,  whom  the  Middle  Ages  so  enthusiastically  venerated  as 
a  knight.  It  adjoins  the  small  Triumphal  Arch  erected  by  the 
goldsmiths  to  Septimius  Severus.  In  the  seventh  century  it  was 
restored  or  rebuilt,  probably  by  Pope  Leo  II.  This  place  of  worship 
still  retains  its  olden  character  scarcely  impaired,  and  also  contains 
a  number  of  Greek  epitaphs.  The  oldest  of  these,  however,  go 
back  no  further  than  the  second  half  of  the  ninth  century.'2 

The  circular  church  of  S.  Teodoro  and  also  that  of  S.  Caisarius, 
on  the  Palatine,  were  equally  memorials  of  the  Byzantines.  Other 
churches  to  Greek  and  Eastern  saints  were  yet  to  be  erected  on  the 
Roman  Forum,  till,  finally,  Frankish  influence  ousted  the  Byzantine 
in  Rome,  and  the  Western  element  took  the  place  of  the  Greek. 
Under  Felix  IV.  the  martyrs  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian  began 
the  series.  SS.  Sergius  and  Bacchus  were  patrons  of  a  deaconry- 
church  near  the  arch  of  Alexander  Severus  ;  to  these  saints,  from 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  Euphrates,  Justinian  had  also  dedicated 
a  church  in  Constantinople.  The  Curia  of  the  Senate  became 
the  shrine  of  the  Nicomedian  martyr  Adrian,  and,  according  to  a 
recently  discovered  inscription,  an  Hegumenos,  i.e.  a  Greek  abbot, 
and  his  monks  had  their  dwelling  in  S.  Maria  in  Aracceli. 

It  is  quite  clear  that  Greek  settlers  in  Rome  and  the  worship 
of  Eastern  saints  were  long  favoured  and  promoted  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  Palatine  by  the  Byzantine  rulers.3 

The  Church  of  SS.  Philip  and  James  as  a  Memorial  of 
the  Re'establishment  of  Byzantine  Rule 

402.  The  Basilica  on  Greek  lines  to  the  Apostles  SS.  Philip 
and  James,  erected  under  Narses,  to  some  extent  constituted 
a  monument  of  the  triumph  of  Rome  of  the  East. 

1  On  Leo,  see  vol.  ii.  p.  64 ;  and  for  S.  Anastasia,  Anal,  rom.,  1,  595  ft". 

'  On  the  inscriptions  and  church,  see  Batiffol,  Mil.  d'arch.  ct  a" hist.,  7  (1887), 
419  ft".  The  Liber  pont.  mentions  the  church,  1,  360,  Leo  LI.,  n.  150,  but  the  passage  is 
an  interpolation  first  met  with  in  a  tenth  century  MS.  On  the  Triumphal  Arch  and  its 
inscription,  see  Corp.  inscr.  hit.,  VI.,  n.  1035  ;  according  to  this,  it  was  erected  in  204  by 
the  "  argentarii  et  negotiantes  boarii  huius  loci  qui  invekent." 

3  On  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian,  see  vol.  i.  p.  232  ft".  ;  SS.  Sergius  and  Bacchus,  Liber 
pont.,  1,  512,  522.    On  St.  Adrian,  ibid.,  1,  324,  327;  S.  Maria  in  Aracceli,  vol.  i.  p.  248. 


no.  402]    THE  BASILICA  OF  THE  APOSTLES  87 


It  stood  on  the  road  between  the  Palatine  and  the  Baths  of 
Constantine.  Quitting  the  Roman  Forum,  after  having  passed 
through  the  forums  of  Caesar  and  Trajan,  we  should  have  reached 
the  western  side  of  the  Quirinal  Hill,  a  spot  proudly  overlooked 
by  the  Baths  of  Constantine.  At  this  point  the  base  of  the 
Quirinal  was  bordered)  by  great  porticoes,  in  the  midst  of  which 
rose  the  fine  new  Greek  church  which  we  are  about  to  visit. 

This  building  has  now  entirely  lost  its  ancient  character, 
and  is  called  the  Basilica  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  though  at 
first  it  was  dedicated  only  to  the  two  Apostles  Philip  and  James 
(the  Less),  whose  relics  were  brought  over  from  the  East, 
probably  by  the  agency  of  the  new  Byzantine  Government,  and 
at  the  instance  of  Narses.  The  rich  and  costly  structure,  in 
the  adornment  of  which  no  expense  had  been  spared,  was 
indeed  chiefly  intended  to  receive  these  treasured  relics,  so  highly 
welcomed  by  the  Romans.1 

During-  the  Middle  Acres  it  came  to  be  said  that  Narses  had 
taken  pillars  and  other  building  materials  from  the  Forum  of 
Trajan,  and  even  that  he  had  liberally  made  a  present  of  Trajan's 
Column  to  his  favourite  church.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  finest 
of  Rome's  Forums,  in  the  time  of  Narses,  had  still  a  long  exist- 
ence before  it.  Not  until  much  later  did  its  famous  columna 
centenaria  pass  under  the  care  of  a  church  depending  on  the  new 
Basilica  of  the  Apostles.  The  fable  probably  took  its  rise  from 
the  splendid  pillars  of  Pentelican  marble  in  the  church,  some 
remains  of  which  can  still  be  seen  in  a  side  chapel.  The  rich 
forest  of  columns  and  other  ornaments  of  the  new  building  may, 
however,  have  come  from  some  ruined  structure  of  Constantine's 
time,  lying  near  or  on  the  same  site.2 

On  the  same  spot  a  smaller  church  once  stood,  called  the 
Basilica  Julia,  having  been  consecrated  by  Pope  Julius  soon  after 
Constantine's  time.    This  church  it  was  which  was  rebuilt  on  a 

1  In  the  Liber  pont.,  I,  305,  n.  no,  Iohannes  III.,  the  church  is  called  "  ecclesia  aposto- 
lorum  Philippi  et  Iacobi"  ;  but  in  the  same  work  (1,  500,  n.  324,  Hadrian  /.,  and  2,  28, 
n.  414,  Leo  III.)  it  is  called  "ecclesia  apostoloru/n  in  Via  Lata."  Benedict  of  Soracte,  on 
the  other  hand,  says  simply  " sancti  apostoli."  Cp.  DE  ROSSI,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1887, 
p.  So. 

2  For  the  fable  regarding  Narses,  see  VOLATERRANUS,  in  his  notice  on  this  church, 
written  in  1454  {Cod.  Vat.,  5560),  and  Fiorav.  Martinelli,  Roma  ex  ethnica  sacra 
p.  64.  On  the  latter,  see  DE  ROSSI,  lnscr.  christ.,  2,  1,  p.  354.  The  columns  in  the  last 
chapel  to  the  right  have  a  triple  spiral  fluting,  or  rather  one  large  band  to  two  smaller 
ones,  a  peculiarity  of  Constantine's  period.  Some  of  the  fragments  of  sculpture  in  the 
portico  of  the  present  church  may  have  come  from  the  sixth-century  church. 


88 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  402 


far  larger  scale  and  to  a  special  pattern,  being  modelled  on  the 
revered  Apostoleion  of  Constantinople.  The  adoption  of  this 
model  speaks  much  for  the  extent  of  Byzantine  influence  in 
Rome. 

The  Apostoleion,  or  church  of  the  Apostles,  on  the  Bosphorus, 
was  at  that  time  famous  throughout  the  world.  The  Emperor 
Justinian  had  built  it  in  550  in  the  form  of  a  cross  with  truly 
Oriental  splendour,  and  curiously  enough,  it,  too,  occupied  the 
site  of  an  earlier  and  smaller  Apostoleion  built  by  Constantine 
in  the  new  city  he  founded.  Both  the  Constantinople  churches, 
the  older  and  the  newer  Apostoleion,  were  used  as  mausoleums 
for  the  Imperial  family,  whose  sarcophagi  rested  there.1 

The  new  Byzantine  church  in  Rome  was  also  given  the  form 
of  a  Greek  equal-armed  cross.  In  Rome,  where  all  the  churches 
were  of  the  basilican  order,  such  a  building  was  a  singular  and 
new  departure,  only  to  be  explained  by  the  wish  of  closely  imitating 
the  edifice  of  Justinian  at  Byzantium.  The  shape  of  the  cross 
was  preserved  in  the  Roman  Apostoleion,  if  we  may  so  call  it,  till 
relatively  late  times.  Even  in  the  fifteenth  century,  when  great 
alterations  had  already  taken  place  in  the  structure,  Volaterranus 
particularly  mentions  this  peculiarity.2 

The  spacious  porticoes  surrounding  the  Roman  church  also 
made  it  resemble  the  Apostoleion  in  Constantinople,  descriptions 
of  which  allude  to  the  extensive  colonnades  or  "Periboloi"  amidst 
which  it  was  set.  All  sorts  of  rooms  adjoined  these  arcades  : 
apartments  for  the  Emperor,  for  the  clergy,  and  for  the  guards. 
There  were  also  council  chambers  and  baths,  whilst  the  court 
surrounding  the  Apostoleion  of  New  Rome  was  adorned  with 
statues  of  the  Twelve  Apostles. 

We  must  picture  to  ourselves  the  Apostoleion  of  Rome  amid 
similar  surroundings. 

1  Pope  Julius  (337-352),  according  to  the  Catalogus  Liberianus  (ed.  DUCHESNE,  Liber 
pont.,  1,  p.  8),  built  the  "  basilicam  Iuliam  quae  est  regione  septima  iuxta  jorum  divi 

Traiani.''  Lanciani  gives  a  (highly  questionable)  plan  on  his  Forma  urbis.  Constan- 
tine's  church  of  the  Apostles  in  Constantinople  is  spoken  of  by  EuSEBlUS,  Vita  Const., 
4,  c.  59  ;  DEHIO  AND  Bezold,  p.  44  ;  HOLTZINGER,  pp.  96,  206.  On  Justinian's  new 
building,  see  PROCOP.,  De  aedif.  lustinia/ii,  1,  c.  4.  Cp.  HOLTZINGER,  p.  111.  HuBSCH, 
Kirchen,  PI.  32,  diag.  5-7,  a  reconstruction,  cp.  Holtzinger,  p.  113. 

2  "  In  similitudinem  crucis  fabricam  eius  bracchiatam  largissime  inchoavit"  \  so 
Volaterranus  (see  note  2,  p.  87)  on  the  beginning  of  the  building  under  Pelagius  I.  At 
the  time  of  Ugonio  (Station/,  1588,  p.  8or)  this  cruciform  plan  must  have  already  become 
invisible,  owing  to  the  restorations.  Cp.  the  notices  in  the  sketch-book  of  Cherubino 
Alberti  in  Lanciani,  U Itinerario,  p.  475. 


N0.402]    THE  BASILICA  OF  THE  APOSTLES  89 


Fine  porticoes  existed  there  even  earlier,  and  no  doubt  Con- 
stantine  had  contrived  to  connect  them  in  some  way  with  his 
adjacent  Thermae.  One  wing  even  bore  the  name  of  Porticus 
Constantini,  and  may  have  been  built  by  this  Emperor;  another 
portico  formerly  stood  near  the  station  of  the  first  cohort  of 
Guards.  The  Constantinian  aqueducts  coming  from  the  Quirinal 
Thermae  supplied  the  basins  and  fountains  of  these  great  pillared 


111.  187. — S.  Nazako  Grande  (formerly  Church  of  the  Apostles)  at  Milan. 
Ground  plan.    From  Dehio  and  Bezold,  p.  44. 

courts,  as  well  as  the  still  existing  artistically  wrought  ancient  t 
cantharus  in  the  atrium  of  the  church.  Perhaps,  as  at  Con- 
stantinople, statues  of  the  Apostles  were  set  up  all  around  ;  we 
almost  seem  to  find  an  allusion  to  such  monumental  works  of 
art  in  the  "pedestals"  and  other  buried  remains  of  past  glories, 
which  Volaterranus  says  he  saw  "  in  front  of  the  present  church."  1 

1  On  the  ancient  porticoes  round  the  Roman  church  of  the  Apostles,  see  KlEPERT 
AND  Hulsen,  Formae  urbis  antiquae,  PI.  3,  where  they  are  shown  on  a  larger  scale  than 
in  Lanciani's  Forma  urbis,  PI.  22,  and  are  also  oriented  somewhat  differently.  Cp. 
HULSEN,  Bull.  arch,  com.,  1893,  p.  133.    Whatever  portion  of  them  belonged  to  the 


9° 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  403 


In  short,  as  we  have  seen,  no  reasonable  doubt  could  exist 
as  to  the  Byzantine  character  of  this  remarkable  church.  We 
might  even  make  bold  to  suggest  that  the  building  was  intended 
as  a  mausoleum,  first  for  Narses  himself,  and  then  for  the  future 
Imperial  viceroys  in  Italy.  The  career  of  the  Victor  of  the 
Goths  came,  however,  to  an  unexpected  end,  and  not  Rome,  but 
Ravenna,  was  to  be  selected  as  the  headquarters  of  the  Greek 
Exarchs  of  Italy. 

Italy  even  then  was  already  in  possession  of  one  conspicuous 
mausoleum  of  the  same  style,  for  Placidia's  celebrated  monument 
in  Ravenna  is  also  built  in  the  form  of  a  Greek  equicrural  cross. 
The  memorial  church  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist  at  Ephesus 
also  was  built  by  Justinian  in  the  cross  form,  without  a  doubt, 
in  imitation  of  his  Apostoleion  at  Constantinople.  Moreover, 
St.  Ambrose  had  already  followed  the  example  of  Constantine 
in  Milan,  and  dedicated  a  cruciform  church  to  the  Apostles 
(111.  187),  which  seems  to  have  followed  the  lines  of  the  Basilica 
Julia,  the  predecessor  of  the  new  Apostoleion.  This  Basilica, 
which  was  surely  intended  by  Constantine  for  the  honour  of  the 
Apostles,  was  also,  in  all  likelihood,  cruciform.1 

403.  Our  further  knowledge  about  this  remarkable  Greek 
building  in  Rome  is  limited  to  the  following  facts.  It  had  been 
begun  under  Pelagius  I.,  the  energetic  Pope,  who  stood  in  such 
high  favour  with  Justinian.  Not  in  vain  had  Pelagius  spent  so 
long  a  time  in  Constantinople,  where  he  was  able  to  admire  the 
Emperor's  great  architectural  enterprises.  Having  been  begun 
under  these  auspices,  it  was  his  successor,  then,  John  III.,  who, 
with  the  encouragement  of  Narses,  completed  Rome's  new  monu- 

headquarters  of  the  Vigiles  (i  CoJiors  vigilum)  may,  when  they  fell  into  disuse,  have 
been  given  up  to  the  Church  by  Narses.  On  the  porticus  Constantini  mentioned  in  the 
Regionary  description  (reg.  VII.),  see  Nibbv,  Roma  an/.,  2,  799  ;  Borsari,  Bull.  arch, 
com.,  1887,  p.  146  ;  and  LANCIANI,  L '  Ilinerario,  p.  474.  The  cantharus  is  in  the  Museo 
Nazionale.  It  is  called  " calix  marmoreus"  in  the  spurious  Bull  of  John  III.  for  the 
"Basilica  duodecim  [sic]  aposlolorum,"  see  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  f  i°43-  The  descrip- 
tion of  Volaterranus  (I.e.)  contains  the  following  words :  "  Semirupti  arcus  el  parieies  in 
fronte  pracscntis  ecclesiae  el  amplissimi  posies  el  spaliosa  superliminaria  ac  pavimenta 
sepulla." 

1  See  plan  of  Placidia's  Mausoleum  in  Holtzinger,  p.  248.  For  the  church  of  St. 
John,  Procop.,  De  aedif.  Iustiniani,  5,  c.  2  :  Holtzinger,  p.  98.  The  Apostles'  church 
of  St.  Ambrose  is  now  called  S.  Nazaro  Grande;  it  retains  its  olden  ground  plan  in  spite 
of  having  been  rebuilt  in  1075.  Dehio  and  Bezold,  p.  44.  The  opinion  that  the 
Roman  church  of  the  Apostles  had  its  entrance  at  the  west  side  in  the  sixth  century  (as 
it  has  now),  whereas  the  previous  church  was  entered  from  the  east,  arose  probably  from 
the  fact  that  the  cruciform  plan  allowed  of  several  entrances.  In  the  Apostoleion  at 
Constantinople  the  altar  stood  in  the  centre. 


no.  4o4]    THE  BASILICA  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


merit  and  performed  the  ceremony  of  consecration.  Both  these 
Popes,  together  with  their  work,  were  immortalised  in  the  con- 
temporary inscriptions  above  the  church's  portals.  Another 
ancient  inscription  in  the  apse  boasts  that  John  III.  had  pushed 
on  the  work  in  spite  of  the  distress  of  the  times  and  "  though  the 
world  was  coming  to  an  end."  It  states  that  the  church  had  been 
erected  in  order  to  unite  the  sacred  flock  of  the  people  in  a  holy 
place  against  the  assault  of  the  wolf,  and  to  set  up  on  this  site  the 
light  of  the  Apostles  James  and  Philip.  These  last  words  contain 
a  valuable  historical  allusion  to  the  translation  of  the  relics  of  the 
two  saints,  whereas  the  documentary  evidence  of  this  translation 
is  unreliable,  and  has  seemingly  been  distorted  by  legend.1 

In  the  course  of  the  iconoclast  controversy  under  Pope 
Hadrian,  we  hear  of  the  great  splendour  of  this  church  ;  we  are 
told  that  the  church  was  remarkable  not  only  for  its  size,  but  also 
for  its  resplendent  coloured  mosaic  work  ;  that  it  was  also  adorned 
with  sacred  pictures,  which  were  objects  of  veneration.  Pope 
Hadrian  and  his  predecessor  likewise  restored  the  historic  por- 
ticoes surrounding  it  [por/ica  in  circttitit).  The  church  had  become 
in  course  of  time  one  of  the  most  revered  in  the  City  of  Rome  ;  it 
had,  for  instance,  the  privilege  of  being,  on  the  Ember  Days,  the 
Station  for  the  Scrutinia  or  examination  of  candidates  for  Holy 
Orders,  a  fact  which  seems  to  give  it  a  rank  near  Rome's 
cathedrals,  S.  Maria  Maggiore  and  St.  Peter's  on  the  Vatican.2 

The  regrettable  alterations,  which  destroyed  its  ancient 
character,  took  place  partly  in  mediaeval  times,  partly  under 
Julius  II.,  when  he  was  cardinal  of  this  church,  but  especially 
through  Clement  XI.  and  Benedict  XIII. 

404.  In  the  course  of  some  recent  work  in  the  crypt  under 
the  church,  it  became  necessary  to  open  the  ancient  high  altar, 
when  an  important  historical  discovery  was  made.  This  was  on 
January  15,  1873.  Under  the  later  altar  was  found  the  little, 
original,  sixth-century  one  with  its  relics  complete.    According  to 

1  For  the  inscriptions,  see  DE  Rossi,  laser,  christ.,  2,  i,  p.  139,  and  pp.  65,  248,  355  ; 
DUCHESNE,  Liber fiont.,  1,  306.  In  the  latter  inscription  it  is  said  of  John  III.:  "  Des- 
pcxit  111  undo  deficicnte  pre/ni"  ;  and  at  the  close  :  "  (Jitisquis  lector  adest  lacobi  pari  torque 
Pliilippi  I  Cernat  apostolicum  lumen  incsse  locis." 

2  Hadrian,  in  Mansi,  13,  801;  restoration  of  the  porticoes:  Liber  port  I.,  1,  500, 
Hadrianus,  n.  324  ;  this  had  been  begun  by  his  predecessor.  Leo  III.  gave  special  care 
to  the  quadriporticus  in  front  of  the  basilica  (Liber  pont.,  2,  28,  Leo  III.,  n.  414).  The 
Station  in  the  Ordo  Romanus  in  DEUSDEDIT,  Collcctio  canon.,  2,  c.  91,  ed.  Martin'UCCI. 


92 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  404 


E  ... 


111.  188. — Altar  of  the  Church  of  the 
(XII.)  Apostles  in  Rome. 

Sixth  century,    See  Anal.  Rom.,  r,  p.  620. 


the  account  given  by  competent  eye-witnesses,  this  find  gave 
a  far  better  idea  of  the  manner  in  which  relics  of  saints  were 

preserved  in  altars  at  that 
period  than  any  similar 
monument  known  (111.  188).1 
Most  of  the  parts  of  this 
interesting  memorial  have 
been  preserved  entire  in 
the  same  church,  and  they 
well  deserve  a  brief  ex- 
amination, since  they  afford 
an  opportunity  of  discuss- 
ing an  important  ancient 
rite,  viz.  that  of  consecrat- 
ing places  of  worship  by 
burying  in  them  relics  of 
the  saints.  The  churches 
of  ancient  Rome,  with  the 
silent  tombs  of  the  martyrs  beneath  their  altars,  were  pledges 

of  the  City's  future.  The 
dedication  of  these  churches 
was  thus  tantamount  to  the 
taking  triumphal  possession 
of  the  ancient  classic  soil 
by  the  saints  of  the  New 
Religion. 

When  erecting  the  ear- 
liest altar  of  the  church  of 
the  Apostles,  to  describe 
their  proceedings,  the  archi- 
tects of  Pope  John  III. 
made  a  simple  altar-shell 
with  flags  of  pavonazetto 
marble  (A),  covered  hori- 
zontally by  a  marble  slab 
ornamented  by  a  cross  in 
relief  (B,  B,  and  111.  189).    The  almost  equicrural  cross  on  this 

1  For  report  of  the  work,  begun  in  1869,  and  for  discoveries  made  in  1873,  see 
BONELLI,  Basilica  dei  XII  apostoli  (1879),  p.  50  ff.,  from  official  documents.  GARRUCCI, 
Arte  Crist.,  PL  423,  n.  9-1 1.  The  church  deserves  a  fresh  book,  for  Bonelli's  is  no  great 
improvement  on  the  useless  one  by  Malvasia  (Roma  1765). 


'i     '     "              '/J  { 

•    jM  j! 

A  /^I 

: :  ■'//.  /Jy  ' 

111.  189. 


Altar  Slab  of  the  Church  of  the 
(XII.)  Apostles  in  Rome. 


Sixth  century.    After  ROHAULT  DE  Fleury, 
La  Messe. 


no. 4o4]          RELICS  AND  RELIQUARIES 


slab,  with  its  enlarged  ends,  corresponds  exactly  with  the  sixth- 
century  style.  At  the  bottom  of  the  shell  a  circular  aperture  (C) 
connected  the  altar  with  the  small  hollow  below  (D),  containing 
the  actual  relics.  In  front  of  the  shell  was  formerly  the  peep- 
hole or  fenestella  (E,  E),  which  allowed  the  worshippers  to  approach 
in  a  measure  the  relics,  and  also  to  touch  the  lower  slab  (C)  with 
such  objects  as  they  wished  to  be  blessed.  The  altar  outwardly 
resembled  that  of  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian,  which  still  exists  in 
what  is  now  the  basement  of  the  church,  almost  unchanged, 
since  its  dedication  in  the  sixth  century  ;  in  the  latter  case,  how- 
ever, the  internal  structure  is  unknown  (111.  190).1 

In  the  marble  reliquary  of  the  church  of  the  Apostles  a 
great  many  bones  were  found, 
also  a  little  oval  silver  casket 
containing  small  pieces  of  purple 
material,  and  a  silver  vase  for 
balsam.  No  inscription  on  stone 
or  metal  could  be  discovered, 
nor  even  any  of  those  slips  of 
parchment  with  a  list  of  the 
relics  (pittacium),  so  often  found 
in  later  times.  The  bones  were 
examined  by  the  scientific  com- 
mission which  from  the  first  had 
presided  over  the  opening  of  the 
altar,  and  were  recognised  as 
remains  of  two  adult  men.  Experts  were  sent  with  a  tooth  found, 
in  order  to  compare  it  with  the  jaw  of  a  skull  preserved  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Ancona  as  the  head  of  St.  James.  The  broken 
tooth  was  then  seen  to  fit  exactly  the  lower  fragment  of  a  tooth 
remaining  in  this  skull.  After  lengthy  discussion  of  the  whole 
matter  before  physicians,  chemists,  and  archaeologists,  and  after 
a  favourable  opinion  had  also  been  secured  from  the  learned 
Giovanni  Battista  de  Rossi,  the  commission  announced  that 
sufficient  grounds  existed  for  believing  that  the  relics  of  the 
Apostles  SS.  Philip  and  James  had  been  rediscovered.2 

1  Garrucci,  I.e.  Rohault  de  Fleurv,  La  Messe,  PI.  37.  The  altar  of  SS.  Cosmas 
and  Damian,  in  Rohault  de  Fleury,  PI.  82 ;  in  our  view  the  author  is  wrong  in 
ascribing  this  altar  to  the  twelfth  century. 

2  On  the  contents  of  the  reliquary,  DE  ROSSI,  La  capsella  africana  argentea  (1889), 
p.  28;  a  French  translation  of  the  same  in  Bull,  monumental,  1889,  fasc.  4-5  ;  Italian 


111.  190. — Altar  of  SS.  Cosmas  and 
Damian  on  the  Roman  Forum. 

After  Rohault  de  Fleury,  La  Messe. 


94 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  4o4 


The  account  of  these  proceedings  gives  us  an  instance  of  the 
manner  in  which  such  matters  are  now  usually  settled  by  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities  in  Rome.  It  may  also  serve  to  warn 
us  against  prematurely  discrediting  olden  traditions  regarding 
the  deposition  of  relics  in  Roman  churches.  It  is  well  known 
that  during  the  Middle  Ages  relics  were  too  often  accepted 
without  sufficient  caution  ;  many  objections  could  be  raised 
against  the  depositions,  translations,  and  inspections  of  those 
ages.  With  regard,  however,  to  earlier  times,  it  is  satisfactory 
to  observe  that  certain  fixed  customs  were  followed,  even  in 
such  small  details  as  the  shape  of  the  receptacle  for  the  relics, 
and  that  the  care  exercised  by  the  church  authorities  in  the 
translations — which,  moreover,  were  less  frequent  then — was  as 
full  of  zeal  as  the  reverence  displayed  by  the  faithful  towards 
such  sacred  remains. 

As  regards  the  shape  of  the  Reliquaries,  silver  receptacles 
resembling  the  casket  beneath  the  altar  of  the  Roman  church 
of  the  Apostles,  and  of  about  the  same  age,  have  been  found  in 
widely  separated  spots.  In  1863  one  came  to  light  at  Rimini, 
beneath  a  sixth-century  altar  ;  two  others,  ascribed  to  the 
fifth  and  the  sixth  century,  were  found  in  1872  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Grado.  In  1876  a  similar  one  was  discovered  in  the 
church  of  St.  Zeno  in  Southern  Tyrol ;  the  latter  seems  to 
date  from  the  sixth  century  or  later,  and  is  preserved  in  the 
"  Ferdinandeum  "  at  Innsbruck.1 

The  most  famous  reliquary  is  the  oval  one  taken  from  an 
earlv  Christian  basilica  in  Northern  Africa,  the  rilievo  work  being 
of  archaeological  importance ;  it  is  now  kept  in  the  Christian 
Museum  of  the  Vatican.  The  interior  of  the  altar,  to  which 
it  formerly  belonged,  likewise  agreed  on  the  whole  with  that 
of  the  Roman  church  of  the  Apostles.  It,  too,  was  formed  of 
two  chambers,  one  below  the  other,  united  by  an  opening. 
This  aperture  in  both  altars  reminds  us,  again,  of  the  shaft 
in  existence  at  the  Tombs  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and  at 

extracts  in  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1887,  p.  118  ff.  His  opinion,  expressed  at  the  third  session, 
on  February  27,  1873,  is  alluded  to,  but  not  printed,  by  Bonelli  (p.  72  ff.).  The  account 
of  the  "  piccolo  dente  molare  sinistro,"  in  Bonelli,  p.  80.  Text  of  decree  by  the  Cardinal- 
Vicar  Costantino  Patrizi  (April  19,  1873)  regarding  identity,  ibid.,  p.  82.  The  discovered 
relics,  according  to  Bonelli  (p.  83),  were  deposited  in  the  newly  built  crypt  "  rcctc  sub  ara 
principe  noviter  constructa  .  .  .  in  area  marmorea."  In  this  crypt  bases  of  columns  and 
other  remains  of  former  buildings  existing  here  are  shown. 

1  On  these  silver  reliquaries,  see  DE  ROSSI,  La  capsella  africa7ia,  p.  28. 


no. 4o6]      CONSECRATION  OF  CHURCHES  95 

many  other  shrines,  where  it  served  to  unite  the  faithful  with 
the  relics  of  the  departed  Saints.1 

Consecration  of  Churches  by  the  Burial  of  Saints 

405.  As  soon  as  the  building  of  the  church  of  the  Apostles 
was  concluded,  John  III.  arranged  for  its  solemn  dedication.2 

This  probably  took  place  on  May  1,  as  we  may  infer  from 
the  manner  in  which  the  two  Saints,  Philip  and  James,  are 
mentioned  together  in  the  so-called  Martyrology  at  St.  Jerome. 
Even  now  the  joint  festival  of  these  two  Apostles  is  observed 
on  May  i." 

The  present  Mass  for  this  day  also  gives  the  impression 
of  being  the  original  Roman  sixth-century  Mass  for  this  festival. 
It  differs  in  several  peculiarities  from  the  Masses  of  the  other 
Apostles.  Thus  the  Introit  and  the  Epistle  seem  to  allude 
to  a  deliverance  effected  by  God  from  great  distress  and  dangers. 
Now,  the  Romans,  through  the  victories  of  the  Byzantines,  had 
certainly  been  relieved  from  the  horrors  of  prolonged  warfare, 
and  the  rejoicings  on  the  day  of  the  church's  dedication  may 
well  have  been  enhanced  by  the  hope  of  better  times  to  follow 
the  arrival  of  Narses.4 

406.  The  consecration  of  churches  was  then  already  cus- 
tomary everywhere.  Just  as  the  Jews  had  solemnly  dedicated 
their  Temple,  and  as  heathen  usage  ceremoniously  "  dedicated  " 
the  sites  of  idol  worship,  Christianity  also  could  not  refrain 
from  hallowing  and  taking  possession  of  its  sacred  fanes  by 
appropriate  liturgical  rites.  The  Church  likewise  termed  this 
ceremony  the  "  dedicatio  "  (in  Greek,  encaenia)? 

The  most  striking  part  of  this  ceremony  was  the  deposi- 
tion of  the  relics  in  the  new  church ;    in  fact  this  was  the 

1  De  Rossi  gives  drawings  of  the  famous  African  reliquary  in  the  appendix  to  his 
work  quoted  in  the  previous  note. 

2  The  Liber pont.  says  of  the  completion  of  the  structure  (i,  305,  Iohamies  III.,  n.  1 10 : 
"  Hie  perfecit  eeclesiam  apostoldrum  Philippi  et  laeobi  ^  dedicavit  cam"  Ed.  MoMMSEN, 
p.  157. 

3  See  DUCHESNE,  Liber  pont.,  1,  306,  for  the  passage  of  the  Hieronymianum :  "In 
Phrygia,  Hierapoli,  natale  SS.  Philippi  apostoli  et  laeobi."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Philip 
only  was  buried  in  Hierapolis,  and  in  the  same  martyrology  he  also  appears  elsewhere. 

*  The  Introit  begins  :  "  Clamaverunt  ad  te,  Domine,  in  tempore  afflictionis  suae,  el  tu 
de  coelo  exaudisti  eos"  (2  Esdr.  ix.  28).    This  cannot  well  refer  to  the  two  Apostles. 

5  Cp.  Duchesne,  Orig.  du  Culte  chre't.,  p.  385  ff.  Probst,  Die  Sacramentaricn, 
pp.  87,  238. 


96 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no. 407 


essential  part  of  the  rite.  First  came  the  Vigil,  a  preliminary 
service  on  the  previous  day,  in  the  church  where  the  relics 
were  kept  in  the  meantime.  St.  Ambrose  had  already,  after 
a  manner,  alluded  to  this  custom,  which  might  be  compared 
with  the  ordinary  funeral  service.  On  the  day  of  consecration 
itself  the  solemn  procession  of  the  relics  began  early,  and  the 
ceremonial  resembled  yet  more  closely  a  burial  service.  We 
must  remember  that  a  great  number  of  the  oldest  places  of 
Christian  worship  were  over  tombs  of  the  saints,  whether  under- 
ground, as  in  the  Catacombs,  or  above  ground,  as  in  the  cemetery 
Basilicas.  Thence  came  the  custom  of  depositing  in  them  bodies 
of  saints,  or  other  memorials  and  relics,  before  making  use  of 
those  churches  which  had  not  been  built  as  memorial  Basilicas, 
but  simply  as  places  of  worship  for  the  congregations.1 

407.  Before,  however,  we  follow  the  procession  of  the  relics 
to  the  new  church  in  Rome,  we  may  be  allowed  to  give  a  few 
further  facts  of  history.  We  repeatedly  hear  of  relics  being 
expressly  asked  for  from  Rome  for  the  dedication  of  churches 
in  far-distant  lands.  The  City  of  the  Popes  began  very  early  to 
distribute  these  sacred  gifts  throughout  the  world. 

For  instance,  relics  of  the  Apostles  SS.  Peter  and  Paul 
came  to  Gaul,  during  the  time  of  Venantius  Fortunatus,  for 
the  purpose  of  a  dedication,  and,  in  graceful  verse,  the  poet 
describes  the  ceremony  of  their  translation  and  the  popular 
enthusiasm  at  their  reception.  Roman  relics  of  the  two  chief 
Apostles  had  been  similarly  used  even  as  early  as  the  fourth 
century,  for  instance,  by  St.  Ambrose  in  dedicating  his  Basilica 
romana  at  Milan.  Recent  discoveries  have  shown  that,  in  the 
African  Provinces,  altars  containing  relics  of  these  two  Apostles 
were  called  "  memoriae  domni  Petri  et  Panli."  Rufinus,  the  Prae- 
torian Prefect  at  Chalcedon,  in  Asia  Minor,  had,  in  394,  received 
similar  relics  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  for  his  Apostoleion  there.2 

1  Ambros.,  Ep.  22.  Having  been  asked  to  dedicate  a  new  church  with  relics,  a  vigil 
was  held  throughout  the  previous  night  in  the  church  of  Fausta  before  the  relics  of  SS. 
Gervasius  and  Protasius,  which  were  to  be  used.  During  the  procession  of  the  relics 
which  immediately  followed  (the  translation  "in  locum,  ubi  Christies  hostia  est"),  a  blind 
man  recovered  his  sight. 

2  Venantius  Fort.,  Lib.  3,  carm.  6,  ad  Felicem  cpiscopum.  Dc  dedicatione  ecclesiae 
suae  (Men.  Germ,  hist.,  Auctt.  ant.,  t.  4,  pars  1).  Am  BROS.,  Ep.  22  :  "  pignora  aposto- 
lorum  Petri  et  Pauli."  Northern  Africa:  cp.  the  reproduction  in  HOLTZINGER,  p.  245, 
from  de  Rossi,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  of  the  arch  above  a  memorial  at  Megrun  and  our  111.  158 
in  vol.  ii.    Rufinus,  in  Duchesne,  I.e.,  p.  388. 


New]      CONSECRATION  OF  CHURCHES 


Justinian,  in  519,  before  he  became  Emperor,  requested 
relics,  or  " sanctuaria"  as  they  are  called  in  the  account,  from 
the  Tombs  of  Peter  and  Paul,  that  he  might  consecrate  a 
church  to  the  Apostles.  When  later,  in  550,  having  attained 
the  purple,  he  celebrated  the  dedication  of  that  Basilica  of  the 
Apostles  at  Constantinople  which  we  have  so  frequently 
mentioned,  the  most  important  part  of  the  ceremony  appears 
to  have  been  the  carrying  by  the  patriarch  Menas  of  the  relics 
to  the  new  house  of  God.  Our  authority  tells  us  that,  in  the 
procession,  Menas  sat  "in  the  Emperor's  gold  and  jewelled 
chariot,  holding  the  three  reliquaries  on  his  lap."1 

Relics  of  St.  Stephen  the  Martyr,  according  to  a  description 
dating  from  the  time  of  St.  Augustine,  were  brought  to  the 
Basilicas  of  North  Africa  with  processions  of  lights,  amid  the 
psalms  of  the  crowd,  and  the  most  moving  demonstrations  of 
piety.  Here,  too,  we  hear  of  the  grand  chariot  in  which  the 
Bishop  rode  with  the  relics.2 

A  vehicle  of  this  sort,  together  with  the  whole  stately  pro- 
cession of  the  relics  to  a  Basilica  about  to  be  consecrated,  is  shown 
upon  the  fine  ivory  carving  in  the  Cathedral  Treasury  at  Treves, 
a  work  of  art  belonging  to  about  the  fifth  century.  Of  this  we 
give  an  illustration  (111.  191),  because  it  affords  so  clear  an  idea 
of  what  the  procession  was  like  which  once  wended  its  way  to  the 
Roman  church  of  the  Apostles.  At  the  head  walks  an  Emperor, 
distinguished  merely  by  a  simple  fillet  about  his  brows  {tenia)  ; 
he  bears  a  candle,  and  his  nobles  follow  him,  also  with  candles, 
and  wrapt  in  their  robe  of  state,  the  chlamys.  Two  Bishops, 
wearing  the  episcopal  pallium  over  the  flowing  planeta,  are  seated  in 
a  splendid  four-wheeled  chariot,  drawn  by  two  horses.  Together 
they  hold  on  their  laps  a  reliquary  with  a  roof-shaped  lid.  The 
procession  is  seen  passing  an  amphitheatre  thickly  crowded  with 
sightseers  ;  from  the  first  storey  thuribles  are  being  swung.  To 
the  right  may  be  seen  the  Basilica  itself,  with  its  circular  baptis- 
tery, and,  at  the  door,  the  Empress,  richly  clad,  and  holding  a 
large  cross  on  her  shoulder,  ready  to  receive  the  procession.3 

1  For  Justinian's  request  when  yet  a  mere  Comes,  see  letter  from  the  Roman  legates  to 
Pope  Hormisdas  in  Thiel,  Epp.  rom. pont.,  p.  873;  P.L.,  LXIII.,  474.  Anal,  rom.,  1, 
271  ff.    On  the  dedication  in  550,  cp.  DE  Rossi,  Capsella  africana,  p.  32. 

2  De  miraculis  S.  Stephani,  1,  c  2  ;  P.L.,  XLI.,  835. 

3  Reproduced  in  Kraus,  Gesch.  der  chr.  Kunst,  1,  501 ;  in  C.  Willems,  La  sainte 
robe  (1891) ;  in  Aus'm  Weerth,  Kunstdenkmaler  des  christl.  Mittelalters  in  den  Rhein- 

VOL.  nr.  G 


98 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.408 


A  similar  procession,  with  all  the  ceremonial  that  befitted  the 
exalted  See  of  Rome  and  the  position  of  Narses,  accompanied 
the  Roman  translation  of  the  relics  of  the  Apostles  Philip  and 
James.    Then  followed  the  consecration  rite  properly  so-called. 

408.  One  of  the  initial  portions  of  the  ceremony  within  the 
richly  decorated  new  church  was  to  draw  two  long  lines  from 
corner  to  corner,  bisecting  one  another  in  the  middle  (  x  ),  and 
marked  with  the  letters  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  alphabet.  This 
peculiar  custom,  which  still  obtains,  is  closely  related  to  ancient 
Pagan  practice  ;  it  had,  however,  cast  off  all  profane  meaning, 
whilst  the  slanting  Cross,  by  reminding  the  faithful  of  Christ,  gave 
the  ceremony  a  Christian  character.  Such  bisecting  lines  {ci'iix 
decussata)  were  in  ancient  times  employed  by  surveyors.  Augurs, 
too,  used  them  for  measuring  the  ground  intended  for  temple 
buildings,  a  circumstance  to  be  particularly  borne  in  mind  in 
explaining  their  Christian  application.  The  heathen  augurs  also 
inscribed  the  lines  with  letters.  In  the  Christian  rite,  which 
adopted  both  customs,  the  lines  were  taken  to  stand  for  the 
initial  of  Christ,  as  the  hymns  sung  in  later  time  in  this  part  of 
the  ceremony  serve  to  show.  As  for  the  alphabet,  it  seems  to 
have  expressed  the  same  meaning  as  the  letters  Alpha  and  Omega 
alone,  viz.  that  God  is  the  beginning  and  end  of  all  things  ;  hence 
both  the  Cross  and  the  alphabet  proclaimed  and  honoured  Christ's 
divinity.1 

In  early  Christian  times  the  alphabet  was  frequently  used  in 
a  mystic  sense,  just  because  it  was  deemed  an  expansion  of  the 
Alpha  and  Omega,  and  a  fuller  and  more  solemn  expression  of 
these  hallowed  letters.  In  addition  to  the  instances  collected  by 
de  Rossi,  we  may  cite  the  following  one  belonging  to  the  period 
we  are  treating.  Below  the  humble  sculptures  which,  in  the  little 
town  of  Narni,  adorn  the  sixth-century  tomb  of  the  saintly  Bishop 
Cassius,  a  contemporary  artist  chiselled  in  one  long  line  an  alphabet 
which  serves  even  to-day  to  remind  us  of  the  ancient  use  of  the 
Alpha  and  Omega.     It  is,  however,  quite  possible  that  here,  and 

landen,  3,  PI.  58,  1.  All  these  writers,  with  Barbier  and  others,  are  inclined  to  place 
the  work  in  the  fifth  century,  but  there  is  much  doubt  what  particular  translation  it 
represents. 

1  De  Rossi,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1S81,  p.  140  ff.  Cp.  Duchesne,  Origincs  du  culle 
c'hre'l.,  p.  403.  Baronius  (an.  44)  had  already  remarked:  "in  dedicationc  templorum 
multa  fuisse gentilibus  cum  pietatis  \christianae\  cultoribus  similia." 


no.4o8]      CONSECRATION  OF  CHURCHES  99 


elsewhere  too,  the  artist  was  no  longer  acquainted  with  the  higher 
meaning  once  given  to  the  alphabet.1 

De  Rossi,  without  being  able  to  define  its  origin  more  closely, 
ascribes  the  introduction  of  the  diagonal  cross  on  the  floor  in  the 
dedication  of  churches  to  "times  long  before  the  Middle  Ages." 
We  believe  the  custom  existed  in  Rome  even  in  the  sixth  century, 
and,  at  the  Byzantine  period,  the  use  of  the  Greek  alphabet  com- 
bined with  the  Latin  was  peculiarly  appropriate.  The  mystic 
custom  of  beginning  the  alphabet  on  the  east  side,  a  practice 
retained  ever  since,  also  corresponds  with  the  earliest  days  of 
Christian  Rome. 

The  remaining  portion  of  the  Roman  consecration  service  by 
means  of  the  deposition  of  relics,  although  by  accident  our  authori- 
ties do  not  mention  it  till  the  eighth  or  ninth  century,  must  also 
be  of  great  antiquity.2 

The  new  Roman  church  of  the  Apostles,  according  to  the 
Ordo,  or  ceremonial,  as  soon  as  the  procession  reached  it,  was 
first  entered  by  the  Pope  and  some  of  the  clergy  ;  the  other 
attendants  remained  at  the  door  with  the  relics,  whilst,  in  the 
meantime,  the  choir  sung  the  litany.  The  Pope  then  prepared  at 
the  altar  for  the  interment  of  the  remains  of  the  saints,  blessing 
water  mixed  with  chrism,  and  then  using  this  with  lime  to  make 
mortar  wherewith  to  enclose  the  relics  in  the  altar.  He  further 
washed  the  altar  with  holy  water,  as  if  to  purify  the  grave  by 
lustration.  He  then  rejoined  the  procession  outside,  concluded 
the  litany  by  a  special  prayer  bearing  on  the  consecration,  and 
besprinkled  the  people  with  the  holy  water  which  remained 
over. 

This  being  finished,  followed  by  the  whole  multitude,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  bear  the  relics  into  the  church. 

The  Pope  was  without  the  planet  a,  for  his  business  was  really 
that  of  a  sexton.    On  reaching  the  altar,  he  deposited  the  relics 

1  The  alphabet  upon  the  tomb  of  Cassius  does  not  appear  on  it  in  GarruccI,  PI.  393, 
n.  6,  though  it  does  in  the  figure  given  by  Eroli,  Miscellanea  stor.  Narnese  (1858),  1,  280. 
On  the  alphabet,  see  DE  Rossi,  I.e.,  and  H.  Thurston,  The  Month,  June  1910. 

2  Ordo  ad reliquias  levandas  sivc  deducendas  seu  condendas  in  the  MS.  of  St.  Amandus. 
Ordines  romani,  ed.  DUCHESNE  (Origines  die  culte  chre'L),  from  the  ninth  century  Cod. 
Paris,  974,  n.  viii.,  p.  461.  Duchesne  (p.  391)  describes  the  ceremony  with  the  help  of 
this  and  of  another  Roman  Ordo,  edited  by  Bianchini  in  his  Vitae  poniiff.  of  pseudo- 
Anastasius,  3,  p.  xlviii.  In  his  letter  to  Profuturus  of  Braga  (an.  538),  Pope  Vigilius 
speaks  of  the  custom  in  certain  churches  of  bringing  in  the  relics  before  Mass  ;  the 
Gelasian  Sacramentary  (liber  2,  n.  1  ff.)  has  a  Detiunciatio  cum  reliquiae  ponendae  sunt 
martyrum  (ed.  Murat.,  Opp.,  ed.  Arezzo,  13,  pars  2,  p.  233). 


IOO 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  408 


in  the  stone  receptacle,  of  which  he  anointed  the  four  inside 
corners,  just  as  in  antiquity  it  was  usual  to  pour  perfumes  over 
highly  venerated  or  celebrated  tombs.  The  receptacle  was  also 
known  as  the  tomb  {sepulcrum),  After  the  Pope  had  put  on  the 
lid,  recited  a  prayer,  and  anointed  the  top  slab  in  the  middle  and 
at  the  corners,  the  altar  was  covered  with  the  customary  linen 
cloths,  a  burning  candle  was  blessed,  all  the  lamps  in  the 
new  church  were  then  lighted,  and  there  followed  at  once  the 
Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  which  completed  the  ceremony  of 
dedication. 

There  were  special  prayers  for  the  consecration,  with  invoca- 
tions of  the  martyrs,  apostles,  and  confessors  who,  in  a  certain 
sense,  were  deemed  to  be  present  through  their  relics.  These 
venerable  formulae  were,  in  the  main,  already  in  use  under  Pope 
Gelasius,  and  were  inserted  in  the  Mass.1 

In  such  wise  did  the  Roman  Church  build  up  the  mysterious 
edifice  of  its  ceremonial  at  a  time  when  ancient  life  all  around  her 
was  still  following  its  olden  course.  That  her  rites  should  display 
many  points  in  common  with  traditional  customs,  whether  secular 
or  religious,  was  a  natural  consequence  which  should  surprise 
nobody.  The  Church  sanctified  what  she  found,  and,  with  loving 
care,  used  it  for  higher  purposes. 

1  Probst,  Die  Sacramentarien,  pp.  238-245. 


CHAPTER  IV 


MONUMENTAL  CONTRASTS  IN  ROME— THE  IMPERIAL  FORUMS 
AND  THE  FLAMINIAN  WAY—  CHRISTIAN  CEMETERIES  OF 
THE  BYZANTINE  PERIOD 

Trajan's  Forum 

409.  At  one  prominent  point  of  Rome  all  the  classic  life  still 
pulsating  in  the  City  was  concentrated  more  than  anywhere  else. 

This  was  the  famous  Forum  of  the  Emperor  Trajan.  Till 
a  comparatively  late  date  literary  meetings  continued  to  be  held 
in  such  ancient  halls  and  libraries  as  still  survived  ;  verses  were 
recited,  and  poetic  contests  waged.  On  the  spot  where  Sidonius 
Apollinaris  had  so  complacently  viewed  his  own  statue  in  gilded 
bronze,  Venantius  Fortunatus  tells  us  that  in  his  time,  i.e.  towards 
the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  "polished  verses"  were  still  to  be 
heard,  poems,  indeed,  which  he  considers  poets  everywhere  might 
take  as  their  patterns.  The  art  of  Virgilius  Maro  and  its  imita- 
tion was  the  chief  object  of  these  gatherings.1 

Without  a  doubt  that  child-wonder  Boethius,  son  of  the  notary 
Eugenius,  had  there  displayed  his  precocious  talent.  Boethius, 
who,  at  eleven  years  of  age,  was  the  glory  of  his  Roman  con- 
temporaries, died  in  578,  and  was  buried  in  the  family  vault  at 
St.  Peter's.  The  curious  epitaph,  which  may  still  be  read  in  S. 
Angelo  in  Borgo,  extols  the  boy  in  high-flown  language,  but  very 
indifferent  verse,  as  "  an  artist  admired  even  by  the  Forum's  best 
frequenters"  ;  as  a  "poet  of  great  talents,"  whose  rare  power  had 
rendered  him  a  "  teacher  of  teachers  "  ;  though  but  a  boy  in  age, 
Boethius  had  nevertheless  left  behind  "great  monuments  of  his 
mind." 2 

1  Venantius  Fortunatus,  Carm.  3,  n.  18,  v.  7  :  "  Vix  modo  tarn  nitido  pomposa 
poemata  vultu  \  Audit  Traiano  Roma  veneranda  foroP  Cp.  Carm.  7,  n.  8,  v.  26  :  "  Ant 
Maro  Traiano  lectus  in  urbe  foro."  Ed.  F.  Leo  (Mon.  Germ,  hist.,  Auctt.  ant.,  4,  1), 
pp.  70,  162. 

2  For  text,  see  my  Anal,  rom.,  1,  153,  with  a  part  of  the  original  on  PI.  2,  n.  2.  De 
Rossi  (Inscr.  c/irist.,  1,  512,  n.  1122)  thinks  a  relationship  exists  between  this  Boethius 
and  the  celebrated  philosopher  and  statesman.  Had  this  been  the  case,  the  panegyric 
of  the  inscription  would  surely  have  called  attention  to  it. 


102 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  409 


This  epitaph  on  the  noble  youth  (clarissimus  puer),  the  hero 
of  Trajan's  Forum,  is  one  of  the  last  mentioning  the  ancient 
nobility  of  Rome.  What,  however,  makes  it  still  more  noticeable 
is  the  statement  it  contains,  in  which  the  pious  father  mentions 
that  for  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of  the  family  six  acres  of  land 
outside  the  Porta  Poriuensis  had  been  formally  made  over  for 
offerings  and  lights.1 

The  Basilica  Ulpia  on  Trajan's  Forum  was,  above  all,  well 
suited  for  grand  assemblies.  In  grandeur  and  glory  it  marked 
the  highest  point  attained  by  the  architectural  splendour  of  ancient 
Rome,  and  indeed  deserved  the  speechless  admiration  which,  as 
we  have  already  heard  from  a  contemporary  account,  the  Emperor 
Constantius  displayed  for  it  when  visiting  Rome. 

Even  its  position  was  a  grand  one.  In  front  of  and  behind 
the  Basilica  stretched  stately  open  courts.  The  larger,  encircled 
by  a  double  portico,  and  flanked  by  two  wide  open  crescents  on 
each  side  (exedrae),  formed  the  Forum  proper.  As  our  plan 
(111.  192)  shows,  the  Forum  was  entered  at  the  point  where  the 
church  of  S.  Urbano  now  stands  on  the  Via  Alessandrina.  A 
triumphal  arch  with  three  entrances  also  stood  there,  opposite 
which,  according  to  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  in  the  centre  of  the 
marble  pavement  of  the  Forum,  was  Trajan's  gilt  equestrian 
statue. 

The  other  rectangular  piazza  on  the  further  side  of  the  Ulpian 
Basilica  was  of  smaller  extent,  and  its  portico  enclosed  a  Temple 
to  the  Emperor,  the  Aides  divi  Traiani.  In  the  middle,  between 
the  Temple  and  the  Basilica,  stood  Trajan's  far-famed  Column, 
which,  still  in  its  old  place,  is  the  pride  of  the  City  of  Rome. 
Any  one  now  proceeding  eastwards  past  the  Column,  down  the 
street  from  D  to  E,  would  have  the  site  of  the  ancient  Temple  on 
his  left — between  the  two  new  churches  dedicated  to  Our  Lady — 
and  the  north  wall  of  the  Basilica  Ulpia  on  his  right.  The  two 
Libraries,  the  Latin  and  the  Greek,  belonging  to  the  Basilica 
Ulpia,  stood  against  this  north  wall  near  the  Columna  Traiana. 
On  the  accompanying  plan  they  are  shown  in  black,  as  it  has 

1  The  epitaph  of  Boethius,  the  Christian  child-wonder,  recalls  the  infant  prodigy  of 
Pagan  Rome,  Quintus  Sulpicius  Maximus,  whose  tomb  came  to  light  during  the  muni- 
cipal alterations  in  1871.  It  stood  under  the  eastern  tower  of  the  Salarian  Gate,  then 
taken  down.  The  epitaph  gave  full  details  of  the  many  prizes  won  by  the  clever  and 
eloquent  boy  at  public  poetic  contests.  CARLO  L.  VlSCONTI,  //  sepolcro  di  Quinto 
Sulpicio  Massimo,  in  the  Bull,  dell'  istit.,  187 1,  p.  98.  Lanciani,  Pagan  and  Christian 
Rome,  p.  280. 


111.  192. — Trajan's  Forum. 
(Ground-plan  from  Lanciani,  Forma  Urbis,  with  some  ameliorations.) 


No.  410] 


TRAJAN'S  FORUM 


been  possible  to  identify  their  remains.  A  good  deal  of  the  great 
Basilica  Ulpia  has  also  survived,  but  so  far  only  about  a  third  of 
it  has  been  excavated. 

Every  visitor  to  Rome  will  remember  those  sad  rows  of 
broken  columns  still  standing  in  a  hollow  (111.  193),  and  feebly 
showing  the  arrangement  of  the  Hall.  The  depression  in  which 
they  stand  intersects  the  centre  of  the  Basilica  at  right  angles 
(see  111.  192,  A,  B,  C). 

410.  The  Basilica  Ulpia  had  five  aisles,  of  which  the  width  is 
shown  by  the  remains.  The  columns  forming  these  aisles  stretch 
east  and  west  beneath  the  modern  houses  which  now  bound  the 
Piazza.  There  were  eighty,  or  possibly  eighty-four  columns,  of 
which  portions  of  forty  only  can  now  be  seen.  To  make  the 
Basilica  still  longer,  each  end  terminated  in  a  large  semicircle, 
of  which  the  western  one  extended  across  the  present  Via  Testa 
Spaccata  to  the  foot  of  the  Capitol,  and  the  eastern  across  the  Via 
Magnanapoli. 

The  splendid  structure  was  built  in  two  tiers,  and  so  lofty  was 
its  summit  that  it  rose  above  the  top  of  Trajan's  Column.  Just 
as  the  superb  bas-relief  of  the  Column  celebrated  the  Emperor's 
wars  against  Decebalus,  the  Dacian  King,  so  the  inscriptions 
on  the  high  pediments  of  the  Basilica  proclaimed  the  names  of 
the  legions  which  had  taken  part  in  the  campaigns  against  the 
Dacians. 

The  Basilica  was  to  be  a  fitting  memorial  of  the  splendour- 
loving  Trajan,  of  whose  family  (the  Ulpii)  it  bore  the  name, 
and  it  also  fulfilled  this  object  by  the  costliness  of  its  materials. 

The  pillars  of  the  nave,  which  measured  some  80  feet  in 
breadth,  consisted  alternately  of  Egyptian  granite  and  of  giallo 
antico  and  Pavonazetto  marble.  In  the  aisles  they  were  all  of 
granite.  On  the  walls,  floors,  and  stairs  lavish  use  was  made 
of  all  kinds  of  marble ;  to  the  present  day  we  have  eloquent 
evidence  of  this  in  the  fine  fragments  which  remain.  The  floor 
of  the  nave,  as  was  the  case  in  the  Pantheon,  was  paved  with 
large  square  or  circular  marble  slabs  furnished  by  the  quarries 
of  Numidia  and  Phrygia,  and  polished  in  the  best  workshops 
of  Rome.  The  aisles  were  radiant  with  other  choice  paving 
material.  The  central  hall  was  covered  by  a  richly  decorated 
ceiling,  with  a  cornice  moulded  in  bronze. 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.410 


The  main  entrance  was  on  the  south  side  opposite  the  broad, 
open  square  of  Trajan's  Forum,  from  which  five  steps  of  giallo 
antico,  still  partly  traceable,  ascended  to  the  three  portals  of 
the  Basilica. 

Whatever  met  the  eye  in  the  building,  even  those  portions 
of  which  the  intrinsic  value  was  less,  bore  witness  to  the  pure 
artistic  taste  of  the  golden  age.  Everything  was  beautiful,  from 
the  double  row  of  columns  in  front  of  the  doors,  and  the  beauti- 
fully wrought  brazen  doors  themselves,  to  the  lofty  summit  of 
the  building,  where  four-wheeled  triumphal  cars  were  drawn  by 
spirited  horses,  and  where  bronze-gilt  insignia  of  victory  glittered. 
The  uppermost  parts  were  supported  by  gracefully  formed  carya- 
tides. Some  portions  of  the  frieze,  of  singularly  beautiful  design, 
are  still  preserved  on  the  spot  itself ;  others  have  migrated  to 
museums,  and  especially  to  the  Vatican.  These  fragments, 
though  small,  are  interesting,  and  were  lucky  enough  to  escape 
the  mediaeval  lime-kilns.  Upon  the  portions  preserved  in  the 
Vatican  are  bas-reliefs  of  winged  genii  busy  pouring  out  punch- 
bowls, alternating  with  airily  designed  chimeras.  Between  these 
genii  and  chimeras  were  vases  of  curious  workmanship  on  which 
there  were  other  lively  pictures,  such  as  scenes  from  Bacchus- 
worship,  with  satyrs  and  bacchantes. 

The  Basilica  Ulpia  and  Trajan's  Forum  were  ornamented 
with  many  choice  statues.  Even  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries 
noble  Romans  coming  here  for  formal  matters,  such  as  the 
manumission  of  a  slave,  found  themselves  surrounded  by  the 
statues  of  their  grand  old  generals,  statesmen,  and  poets.1 

But  there  were  also  many  statues  there  of  more  recent  cele- 
brities. This  has  been  shown  by  excavations,  and  we  have, 
besides,  the  testimony  of  Venantius  Fortunatus.  In  the  sixteenth 
century  a  number  of  pedestals  were  discovered  in  the  Forum 
belonging  to  statues  of  later  age,  bearing,  for  instance,  the  names 
of  Anicius  Auchenius  Bassus,  of  Petronius  Maximus,  of  Victorinus, 
the  rhetor  mentioned  by  St.  Jerome,  of  the  poet  Claudian,  and 
of  the  Consul  Flavius  Eugenius.  The  text  of  the  inscriptions 
mentions  that  the  statues  were  of  gilded  bronze.2 

During  the  excavations  of  1812  and  18 13,  which  brought  to 

1  That  the  formality  of  setting  slaves  free  was  performed  here  is  clear  from  Sidonius 
(panegyric  on  Anthemius,  v.  44). 

2  Nibey,  Roma  antica,  2,  196. 


111.  193. — Portion  of  Trajan's  Forum  in  its  Present  State. 


111.  194. — Forum  of  Augustus. 
(Hiilsen's  reconstruction,  in  Schneii>f.r,  Das  alte  Rom,  PI.  7,  No.  11.) 


No.  410] 


TRAJAN'S  FORUM 


light  the  broken  columns  now  visible,  the  base  of  a  statue  was 
also  discovered  belonging  to  a  well-known  later  rhetor,  Flavius 
Merobaudes,  a  Spaniard,  who  could  wield  both  pen  and  sword. 
The  inscription  states  in  boastful  language  that  Merobaudes  had 
not  forsaken  literature,  and  his  campaigns  in  the  "Alpine  peaks 
had  but  rendered  his  wit  keener."  Through  Niebuhr  the  literary 
remains  of  Merobaudes  have  been  made  known.  They  are  not, 
however,  very  remarkable  for  either  wit  or  taste,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  display  a  great  deal  of  "inflated  Virgilian  pathos."1 

A  fire  in  the  tenth  century  seems  to  have  been  responsible 
for  the  first  destruction  of  the  Basilica  Ulpia.  In  the  time  of 
Gregory  the  Great  (604),  it,  and  the  Forum  likewise,  was  still 
in  good  preservation,  and  lay  on  the  route  of  the  processions. 
A  suggestive  early  mediaeval  legend  even  represents  Gregory 
as  pausing  during  one  of  these  processions  to  admire  Trajan's 
greatness,  and,  moved  by  the  political  virtues  of  the  olden 
Emperor,  especially  by  his  clemency,  as  fervently  praying 
for  him.2 

Doubtless,  however,  even  in  Gregory's  time,  traces  of  ap- 
proaching decay  were  visible  in  Trajan's  Forum.  During 
the  invasions  of  the  barbarians  this  site  must  certainly  have 
suffered.  We  should  not  be  wrong  in  assuming  that  the  grand 
gilt  statue  of  Trajan  had  been  taken  down  from  the  column, 
and  that  even  the  Emperor's  burial-place  in  the  interior  of  the 
substructure  had  been  broken  open  and  desecrated.  Trajan's 
ashes  had  .  formerly  rested  there  in  a  golden  urn.  We  may 
well  wonder  who  became  the  happy  owner  of  this  precious 
metal  treasure. 

Trajan's  huge  column  ever  fascinates  the  educated  passer-by. 
Unfortunately,  we  are  unable  to  deal  with  it  here.  We  may 
merely  state  that  it  was  not  only  a  mausoleum  and  monument 
to  the  glory  of  the  Emperor,  but  also  a  topographical  memorial 
as  well.  Its  height  marks  the  height  of  the  ground  which 
Trajan  had  cleared  away  from  this  point  of  the  City,  in  order  to 
erect  on  a  new  and  lower  level  between  the  Capitol  and  the  Quirinal 

1  Ebert,  Literaticr  des  Abe?idla?idcs,  i,  417.  The  inscription  says:  " inter  arma 
litteris  militabat  et  in  Alpibus  acuebat  eloquium."    Nibby,  I.e.,  p.  195. 

2  John  the  Deacon  {Vita  S.  Gregorii  M.,  2,  c.  44),  in  connection  with  this,  and  fol- 
lowing certain  spurious  Anglo-Saxon  biographies,  recounts  how  Trajan's  soul  was  released 
through  the  intercession  of  Gregory  the  Great.  In  Paul  the  Deacon  (Vita  S.  Gregorii, 
c.  27)  this  story,  which  obtained  undeserved  credence  during  the  Middle  Ages,  was  inter- 
polated later.    We  shall  revert  to  it  in  speaking  of  Gregory. 


io6  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.4n 

and  Viminal  heights,  the  Basilica  Ulpia  and  his  Forum.  The 
ancient  inscription  on  the  Column  tells  us  this  to  the  present  day.1 
During  the  Middle  Ages,  when  the  Basilica,  the  Libraries, 
the  Temple  of  Trajan,  and  the  Forum  were  already  sinking  into 
ruin,  the  Seriate  of  the  City,  together  with  the  Church,  took  over 
the  special  protection  of  the  Column.  It  was  made  over,  together 
with  the  surrounding  ground,  to  the  guardianship  of  a  chapel 
of  St.  Nicholas,  called  ad  colnmpnam  Traianam.  An  Act  of 
the  Senate,  dated  1162,  for  the  nuns  of  St.  Cyriacus  and  for  this 
chapel  to  which  they  were  attached,  says  that  the  Column  was 
a  "public  glory  to  the  City,"  and  that  it  must  remain  uninjured 
as  long  as  the  world  endures.  To  this  day  the  monument  has 
not  falsified  the  hopes  of  those  olden  City  Fathers.- 


Other  Imperial  Forums— The  Via  Flaminia 

411.  Trajan's  was  connected  with  the  Roman  F"orum  by  two 
other  splendid  Forums  of  the  Emperors,  that  of  Augustus  and 
that  of  Nerva.  A  Triumphal  Arch  with  a  triple  gateway  and 
eight  columns  led  from  Trajan's  to  the  Forum  of  Augustus 
(111.  194). 

The  two  sickle-shaped  ruins  at  its  eastern  end  still  give  a  good 
idea  of  the  size  and  grandeur  of  the  Forum  of  Augustus.  Their 
massive  masonry  still  reaches  in  places  their  former  height,  whilst 
between  them  lie  the  splendid  pillars  of  the  ruined  Temple  of 
Mars  Ultor.  Any  one  now  coming  from  the  Roman  Forum 
towards  the  Arco  dei  Pantani,  sees  to  the  left,  just  in  front  of  the 
latter,  three  towering  columns,  with  beautifully  worked  entabla- 
ture, which  are  the  remains  of  that  Temple.    On  the  right  he 

1  Inscription  upon  the  Column  (a.d.  113)  :  SENATVS  POPVLVSOVE  ROMANVS 
IMP.  CAESARI  DIVI  NERVAE  F.  NERVAE  TRAIANO  AVG  GERM  DACICO 
PONTIF.  MAXIMO  TRIB.  POT.  XVII.  IMP.  VI.  COS.  VI.  P  P  AD  DECLAR- 
A,™  QVANTAE  ALTITVDINIS  MONS  ET  LOCVS  TANTIS  OPERIBVS 
SIT  EGESTV  S  {Corp.  inscr.  /at.,  vi.,  n.  960). 

2  The  decree  in  question  is  in  Galletti,  Del  primicero,  n.  56,  p.  323.  The  chapel 
was  subordinate  to  the  church  of  the  Twelve  Apostles;  this  explains  how  Volaterranus 
(in  the  coa.vat.jsbo,  of  the  year  1454,  in  F.  Martinelli,  Roma  ex  ethnica  sacra,  p.  66) 
could  say  that  Narses  gave  "praecelsam  quoque  coclidem  palatii  7'raiam"  to  the  church 
ot  the  Apostles.  During  mediaeval  times  the  Forum  was  called  "pa/attum,"  like  so 
many  ancient  buildings  which  were  in  no  way  "palaces."  The  name  of  cochlis,  koyMs 
for  Trajan  s  Column  (and  that  of  Marcus  Aurelius)  is  met  with  during  classic  times,  and 
is  derived  from  the  hollow  interior,  which  was  compared  to  a  shell.  In  the  hollow  was  a 
spiral  staircase  and  small  ventilation  holes.  The  name  of  "columna  centenaria?  also 
used  of  both  columns,  is  an  allusion  to  their  great  height,  though  it  does  not  signifv  that 
they  were  actually  one  hundred  feet  high.  ' 


No.  411] 


IMPERIAL  FORUMS 


looks  down  on  the  low-lying  pavement  of  the  Forum  of  Augustus, 
excavated  only  in  1889,  from  which  rise  sternly  the  semicircular 
walls  of  the  enclosure.  Formerly  around  the  base  of  each  semicircle 
stood  splendid  statues  of  Generals  and  others  who  had  deserved 
well  of  the  Empire,  with  inscriptions  proclaiming  their  exploits, 
and  calling  on  the  people  and  patricians  of  Rome  to  follow  their 
example.  Only  insignificant  remains  of  these  inscriptions  were 
found  during  the  search,  though  the  excavators  were  particularly 
seeking  for  such  texts.  The  Temple  of  Mars  Ultor,  in  its  best 
days,  was  a  real  museum  of  art,  native  and  foreign.  Amongst  its 
works  of  art  were  the  famous  ivory  statues  of  Athene  and  of 
Apollo,  two  bronze  statues  from  the  house  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
and  the  brass-gilt  quadriga  of  Augustus.1 

In  the  sixth  century  Romans  would,  however,  have  had  to 
seek  far  afield  for  all  these  splendours  carried  off  by  reckless  free- 
booters. Several  of  these  statues,  after  Genseric's  sack  of  Rome, 
may  have  found  new  sites  on  the  Forum  of  Carthage,  or  in  the 
palace  of  the  Vandal  King. 

The  Forum  of  Augustus  did  not  stretch  towards  the  south 
like  that  of  Trajan,  but  rather  towards  the  west  and  the  Roman 
Forum,  i.e.  in  the  direction  of  the  Arch  of  Septimius  Severus. 
The  Forum  Julium  lay,  however,  between  it  and  the  Forum 
Romanum.  Both  Forums  are  now  traversed  lengthwise,  though 
not  through  their  centre,  by  the  Via  Bonella,  which  was  laid  down 
in  the  sixteenth  century.  This  street  has  made  it  impossible  to 
recognise  the  two  Forums,  nor  does  it  contain  a  hint  of  their 
ancient  glory. 

Nerva's  Forum,  adjoining  the  Forum  of  Augustus  on  the 
south,  formed  the  usual  ancient  route  to  the  Roman  Forum,  for 
which  reason  it  was  often  called  Forum  Transitorium.  In  shape 
it  was  comparatively  narrow,  and  more  like  a  broad  street  than 
a  Forum.  The  surrounding  walls,  ornamented  rieht  and  left  with 
beautiful  Corinthian  columns,  bestowed  on  it  a  certain  character 
of  grandeur.  These  columns,  four-and-thirty  in  number,  were 
surmounted  by  a  marble  entablature,  with  a  richly  decorated  attica, 
which  may  be  seen  in  sketches  made  when  a  large  portion  of 
the  Forum  was  yet  intact.2 

1  JACOBI,  Grundziige  einer  Museographie  der  Stadt  Rom  zur  Zeit  des  Kaisers 
Augustus  {fahresbcricht  der  k.  Studienanstalt  von  Sprier,  1884),  p.  70. 

2  See  Wky,  Rome  (Eng.  Trans.,  p.  52). 


io8  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No. 4.2 


At  the  farther  end  of  Nerva's  Forum,  as  at  the  end  of  that 
of  Augustus,  stood  a  temple.  It  was  dedicated  to  Minerva,  and 
had  six  columns  in  front  and  two  at  the  sides  of  the  atrium.  The 
two  remaining  columns,  where  the  Via  Alessandrina  crosses  the 
Via  della  Croce  Bianca,  still  tell  a  tale  of  vanished  grandeur. 
They  support  a  tastefully  executed  attic  and  a  broad  entablature, 
where  we  see  Minerva  depicted  as  the  patroness  of  industry. 
The  columns  are  popularly  known  as  "  Le  colonnacce."  The 
Temple  of  Minerva  corresponded  at  the  other  end  of  this  long 
Forum  with  the  Temple  of  Janus,  which  was  commonly  reckoned 
to  lie  on  the  Roman  Forum,  and  which  lay  on  the  road  thither. 

From  the  Roman  Forum,  as  the  reader  already  knows,  the 
series  of  gorgeous  edifices  continued  without  a  break  as  far  as 
the  Coliseum.  Thus,  by  means  of  the  Forums,  a  chain  of  hand- 
some public  squares,  porticoes,  and  buildings  stretched  across  the 
heart  of  ancient  Rome.  This  line  of  structures  threw  into  the 
shade  whatever  else  the  City  possessed  of  grandeur  and  beauty. 
At  the  same  time,  their  long,  sheltered  ambulatories,  huge  halls, 
pretty  gardens,  and  well  stocked  bazaars  furnished  the  inhabitants 
of  Rome  with  every  convenience  they  could  require. 

412.  In  designing  the  Forum  Traianum,  its  Imperial  founder 
aimed  at  establishing  direct  connection  between  the  southern  and 
northern  parts  of  Rome.  Trajan  particularly  desired  to  unite  the 
Forums  already  existing  on  the  south-eastern  side  of  the  Capito- 
line  Hill  with  the  Flaminian  Way  beginning  on  the  other  side 
of  the  hill,  and  with  the  squares  and  buildings  in  the  Campus 
Martius.  The  great  height  of  the  ground  between  the  Capitol  and 
the  Viminal  had  previously  hindered  the  establishment  of  such  con- 
nection, hence  the  enormous  levelling  operations  which  made  a 
clear  space  for  Trajan's  Forum,  and  which,  as  already  stated,  are 
commemorated  in  the  inscription  on  Trajan's  Column. 

In  this  wise  it  became  possible  to  reach  the  Via  Flaminia 
and  the  northern  part  of  Rome  by  walking  westward,  i.e.  to  the 
left,  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Trajan's  Column  or  the  Temple 
behind  it.  A  glance  at  the  plan  of  early  Christian  Rome,  at  the 
beginning  of  our  first  volume,  will  make  the  matter  clear  to  the 
reader. 

The  steep  Clivus  Argentarius,  now  the  Via  di  Marforio,  was 
also  of  great  service  for  facilitating  communication  between  the 


NO.  4I3] 


THE  FLAMINIAN  WAY 


south  and  the  north  of  the  City.  The  Clivus  forsook  the  Forum 
near  the  Mamertine  Prison,  and  passed  over  the  eastern  side  of 
the  Capitoline  Hill.  Here,  on  the  height,  once  stood  the  Porta 
Ratumcna  of  the  Servian  City  Wall.  Outside  this  City  Wall 
began  the  Flaminian  Way,  constructed  by  the  Censor  Caius 
Flaminius.  Here,  on  the  right,  stood  the  Tomb  of  Poblicius 
Bibulus,  a  monument  of  republican  times,  now  in  the  centre  of 
the  City,  and  upon  which  the  inscription  of  Bibulus  can  still  be 
read.  Near  by.  on  the  left  of  the  Flaminian  Way,  was  the 
so-called  Tomb  of  the  Claudii,  the  neglected,  square,  brick-built 
edifice  in  the  Via  di  S.  Marco,  opposite  the  angle  of  the  Palazzo 
di  Venezia. 

413.  The  Flaminian  Way  at  the  present  day  still  cuts  with  its 
long,  straight  line  the  flat  ground  within  the  City,  and  is  now 
known  as  the  Via  del  Corso.  In  many  places  the  ancient  Roman 
pavement  of  basaltic  blocks  has  been  found  at  various  levels 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  present  street.  If,  now,  we  follow  this 
road  to  improve  our  acquaintance  with  this  portion  of  the  City, 
we  may  rest  assured  that  we  are  in  a  thoroughfare  which,  since 
the  earliest  times,  has  never  been  out  of  use. 

It  is,  indeed,  a  highway  unequalled  anywhere,  full  of  monu- 
ments, full  of  life  and  Art,  along  which  the  wanderer  passes  from 
the  northern  slope  of  the  Capitol  to  the  Flaminian  Gate,  now 
the  Porta  del  Popolo. 

The  whole  length  may  be  divided  into  three  parts,  which 
follow  the  architectural  history  of  this  part  of  Rome.  The  first 
extends  from  the  foot  of  the  Capitol  to  beyond  the  arch  of  the 
Aqua  Virgo,  i.e.  the  Arcus  Claudii,  which  spanned  the  road  at  the 
corner  of  the  modern  Via  del  Caravita.  The  second  goes  on  to 
the  former  Triumphal  Arch  of  Marcus  Aurelius  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  present  Via  della  Vite.  Finally,  the  third  brings  us 
to  the  Flaminian  Gate. 

The  first  portion  derived  its  peculiar  features  principally  from 
the  buildings  undertaken  by  Agrippa,  the  patron  of  the  Gens 
Jidia ;  in  the  second,  the  Antonines  were  the  chief  builders, 
while  the  last  owes  its  wealth  of  classic  structures  to  Augustus, 
that  Emperor  of  glorious  memory. 

In  our  oldest  Christian  source  of  topographical  information  re- 
garding this  road,  we  find  a  curious  blending  of  classical  buildings 


I  I  o 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  414 


and  Christian  places  of  worship.  We  refer  to  the  unknown 
author  of  the  Einsiedeln  Itinerary.  His  list  of  buildings  standing 
on  the  left-hand  side  is  short ;  he  mentions  only  the  Columna 
Antonini,  Oboliscus,  and  \ecclesia\  S.  Laurentii  in  Lucina.  On 
the  right,  however,  he  knows  of  more.  He  first  points  out  the 
church  of  the  Apostles,  north  of  Trajan's  Forum,  "  Ad  Apostolos"  ; 
he  next  shows  us  a  portico  leading  to  the  church  of  St.  Mar- 
eellus,  and  speaks  of  the  Aqueduct  of  the  Virgo,  even  then  a 
ruin,  as  Forma  Virginis  fracta.  Further,  he  points  to  the  Column 
of  Marcus  Aurelius  {Columna  Antonini),  and  enters  a  portico 
which  takes  him  to  the  church  of  St.  Silvester.  He  names  one 
other  building  which  he  calls  Pariturinm,  and,  finally,  the  Porta 
Flaminea} 

First  Part  of  the  Via  Flaminia  within  the  City. 

414.  We  must  amplify  very  considerably  the  curt  statements 
of  the  Einsiedeln  Guide,  even  as  regards  the  first  portion  of  the 
road,  where  we  begin  our  investigations.  First  of  all  the  Itinerary 
does  not  mention  the  vast  buildings  of  the  Saepta  Julia  at  the 
beginning  of  the  road  on  the  left-hand  side.  This  vast  structure, 
by  its  very  name,  reminds  us  that  it  was  a  monument  of  the 
Julian  clan.  The  "Julian  enclosure"  was  formerly  the  place 
for  the  voting  of  the  Comitia  centuriata.  Julius  Caesar  altered  it 
to  a  square  surrounded  by  a  marble  portico,  and  Agrippa  com- 
pleted the  magnificent  whole  in  which  shops  were  erected  while 
games  were  held  in  its  broad  quadrangles.  The  Saepta  extended 
from  about  the  present  side  entrance  to  the  Palazzo  di  Yenezia, 
past  the  Palazzo  Doria  and  the  church  of  Sta.  Maria  in  Via 
Lata,  as  far  as  the  Virgo  Aqueduct,  and  was  thus  of  enormous 
length.2 

A  portion  of  the  Flaminian  Way  was  called  Via  Lata,  pro- 
bably on  account  of  the  contrast  between  the  broadness  of  the 
road  here  compared  with  its  narrow  commencement.  The  church 
of  Our  Lady,  which  to  this  day  retains  the  name  of  Via  Lata, 
seems  to  have  been  in  existence  even  under  Pope  Hadrian  I. 

1  Itinerarium  Einsiedlense,  n.  4  :  "  a  porta  jlamitica  usque  via  lateranense."  The 
Itinerary  follows  a  direction  opposed  to  ours.  For  a  commentary  on  its  statements,  see 
Lanciani,  L'  itinerario  (Monumetiti  antichi,  t.  1,  1891),  p.  463  fif. 

2  On  the  boundaries  of  the  Saepta,  see  Lanciani,  Archiv.  della  soc.  row.  di  stor. 
ftatria,  1896,  p.  453. 


No.  414] 


THE  FLAMINIAN  WAY 


1 1 1 


(772-795),  but  was  certainly  not  erected  previous  to  the  seventh 
century,  for  it  is  most  unlikely  that  it  would  have  been  allowed  to 
find  a  place  within  the  public  Saepta  at  an  earlier  date.  The 
original  church  of  Sta.  Maria  in  Via  Lata  stands  beneath  the 
present  one,  the  ancient  street  being  considerably  lower  than  the 
present  level.  It  was  in  this  substructure  that  late  mediaeval 
legends  located  the  prison  of  St.  Paul,  a  fable  which  is  not  only 
quite  devoid  of  proof,  but  has  against  it  the  strongest  topo- 
graphical difficulties.1 

In  the  Middle  Ages  we  also  hear  of  a  certain  Diburium  or 
Deburo,  near  the  church.  This  was  probably  an  allusion  to  the 
ancient  Diribitorium,  which  was  early  destroyed,  but  which  formerly 
served  as  a  polling-booth.2 

At  the  present  street  corner  of  Sta.  Maria  in  Via  Lata  the 
first  triumphal  arch  spanned  the  Flaminian  Way.  It  was  called 
Arcus  novtts,  and  was  originally  dedicated  to  the  memory  of 
Diocletian,  the  persecutor  of  the  Christians.  At  the  time  of  our 
visit,  i.e.  in  the  sixth  century,  the  statue  of  Diocletian  had,  how- 
ever, doubtless  long  given  up  its  position  on  the  top  of  the  Arch. 
Even  if  the  barbarians  had  not  taken  it  down,  it  can  scarcely  have 
escaped  the  Christians'  hatred  of  the  accursed  Emperor. 

Opposite  the  Saepta  Julia,  just  described,  a  remarkable  series 
of  grand  Porticoes  began  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  Way. 
These  were  the  colonnades  which  enclosed  the  church  of  SS. 
Philip  and  James,  and  which  were  connected  with  the  porticoes 
of  Trajan's  Forum.  These  porticoes,  which  formerly  comprised 
the  barracks  of  the  first  cohort  of  Vigiles  and  the  Catabulum,  as 
already  described,  were  altered  by  Constantine  the  Great.  When 
the  earliest  church  of  the  Apostles  was  erected  here  under  Pope 
Julius,  they  were  brought  into  architectural  connection  with  it, 
and  later  still,  when  Narses  rebuilt  the  Apostoleion,  they  were 
doubtless  again  forced  to  subserve  the  new  place.3 

1  On  the  origin  of  the  church,  see  Duchesne,  Liber  pont.,  2,  41,  note  65.  On  the 
tradition  concerning  St.  Paul,  the  historian  of  this  church,  F.  Martinelli  (Primo  Iro/eo, 
&c,  1655),  cannot  adduce  any  testimony  earlier  than  the  Middle  Ages.  The  inscription 
he  quotes  on  p.  56  ("  Oratorium  quondam  S.  Pauli,"  &c.)  belongs  to  the  fifteenth  or 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  as  is  clear  from  the  form  of  its  letters. 

2  Hiilsen  {Bull.  arch,  con.,  1893,  p.  140)  thinks  the  Diribitorium  was  a  "vasta  sala 
.  .  .  posta  nella  parte  mezzana  del  piano  superiore  del  [porticus]  Saeptorum."  On  its 
mediaeval  name,  see  Jordan,  Topogr.,  2,  417. 

3  Lanciani  (/fin.  cii  Einsiedeln,  p.  471)  has  clearly  proved  against  Jordan  (Forma 
Urbis,  PI.  VI.,  n.  361)  that  the  piece  of  the  Capitoline  City-plan  with  the  long  porticoes 
and  peristyles,  belongs  to  the  right  side  of  the  road,  and  not  to  the  left.    Cp.,  however, 


ii2  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.4.4 


The  Catabulum  just  spoken  of  was  a  large  hall  for  vehicles, 
and  its  favourable  situation  in  the  middle  of  the  City  made  it  the 
the  central  station  of  the  public  carriers,  for  whom  indeed  it  was 
intended.  Here,  quite  close  to  the  ancient  titular  church  of  St. 
Marcellus,  probably  on  its  left,  were  standing-grounds  and  stables 
for  the  use  of  the  "  Catabulenses."  This  name  appears  during  the 
sixth  century  in  the  letters  of  Cassiodorus,  where  it  is  applied  to 
such  carriers,  for  instance,  in  speaking  of  some  convoys  of  marble 
blocks  which  were  to  be  forwarded  to  Ravenna  by  the  "Cata- 
bulenses" of  Rome.1 

The  well-known  legend  of  the  saintly  Pope  Marcellus  was 
even  then  in  circulation,  for  the  Liber  pontificalis  narrates  how, 
in  the  time  of  persecution,  he  had  been  condemned  to  live  in  the 
stables  and  attend  to  the  beasts  of  burden  (animalia  catabuli). 
It  is  a  fact  that  this  still  existing  titular  church  of  S.  Marcellus 
was  standing  on  this  site  as  early  as  418.  However  confused 
may  be  the  beautiful  tales  told  even  in  antiquity  of  the  sufferings 
and  death  of  this  holy  Pope,  the  fact  of  this  church  being  situated 
so  near  the  haunt  of  the  Catabulenses  is  one  which  deserves 
consideration.  Formerly  this  circumstance  was  overlooked,  and 
only  lately  has  attention  been  given  to  this  site  of  the  ancient 
Catabulum.2 

Quitting  these  Christian  reminiscences  of  the  neighbourhood, 
we  again  revert,  with  a  suddenness  strangely  in  keeping  with  the 
then  character  of  Rome,  to  other  buildings  bearing  grand  heathen 
names. 

for  the  restored  topography  of  this  district,  Hulsen,  Bull.  arch,  com.,  1894,  p.  133,  and 
PI.  6,  where  he  gives  trie  porticoes  a  greater  extent  than  does  Lanciani  in  his  Forma 
Urbis,  assigning  them  a  length  of  nearly  five  hundred  feet,  so  that  they  reach  the  foot  of 
the  Quirinal,  and  comprise  the  later porticus  Constantini  as  well  as  the  site  of  the  church 
of  the  Apostles.  What  has  been  said  previously  (p.  88),  as  well  as  certain  mediaeval 
notices,  seem  to  support  Hiilsen's  view. 

1  Cassiodorus,  Var.,  3,  n.  10:  "  marmora,  quae  de  domo  Pinciana  constat  esse  de- 
posita,  ad  Ravennatem  urbem  per  catabulenses  vestra  ordinatione  dirigantur."  Cp.  4, 
n,  47.  Cod.  Theodos.,  14,  3,  n.  9,  10.  On  the  "catabulum"  or  "  catabolum,"  see  Can- 
TARELLI,  Bull.  arch,  com.,  1888,  p.  386,  and  ROSTOWZEW,  Mitth.  des  archdol.  Instituts, 
1896,  p.  321.    "  Catabulum"  etymologically  means  a  place  for  unloading. 

2  Duchesne,  Liber pont.,  1,  165,  166,  and,  after  him,  Lanciani,  itinerario,  p.  470, 
473.  On  the  origin  of  the  Titulus  Marcelli,  see  vol.  i.  p.  191.  The  legend  of  St. 
Marcellus,  as  given  by  the  Bollandists  {Acta  SS.,  Jan.,  torn.  2,  p.  9),  contains  many 
errors.  The  author  of  the  Liber  pont.,  on  the  contrary,  has  made  use  of  an  earlier  and 
relatively  better  account.  He  supposes  Pope  Marcellus  to  have  been  born  in  the  uregio 
via  lata,"  and  Lucina  to  have  founded  the  Titulus  in  a  house  belonging  to  her,  where 
Marcellus  died  while  attending  to  the  animals  of  the  Catabulum.  Cp.  DUCHESNE,  Liber 
pont.,  1,  XCIX.  Where  Armellini  (Cliiese2,  p.  254)  gathered  his  curious  piece  of  informa- 
tion that  this  church,  previous  to  its  restoration  in  1 5 1 9,  was  oriented  in  a  direction 
opposite  to  its  present  one,  I  have  been  unable  to  discover. 


No.  415] 


THE  FLAMINIAN  WAY 


Adjoining  the  church  of  Sta.  Maria  in  Via  Lata,  a  second  arch 
spanned  the  Flaminian  Way,  that  of  the  Aqueduct  of  the  Virgo. 
This  is  not  a  triumphal  arch,  but  a  monumental  structure  carry- 
ing the  water-way  of  the  "Virgin"  across  the  road.  Its  more 
usual  name,  Arch  of  Claudius,  was  derived  from  its  builder,  the 
Emperor  Claudius,  whence  it  was  called  Arcus,  or  better,  Fornix 
Clmidii.  The  long  series  of  arches,  bringing  the  water  of  the 
Virgo  from  the  Campagna  through  the  City,  starts  below  the 
Pincian  Hill.  In  the  present  Via  del  Collegio  Nazareno,  we  may 
still  see  in  the  depths  two  piers  of  an  arch  rising  from  the 
ground.  The  series  passes  by  way  of  the  Via  delle  Vergini  and 
the  present  Palazzo  Sciarra  till  it  crosses  the  Flaminian  Way  at 
the  northern  corner  of  the  Via  del  Caravita,  close  by  Sta.  Maria 
in  Via  Lata.1 

In  such  wise  did  this  aqueduct  carry  its  waters  to  the 
Campus  Martius  and  the  Thermae  of  Agrippa  to  the  south  of 
the  Pantheon. 

Between  these  grand  Baths  of  Agrippa  and  the  Saepta  Julia 
stood  the  Iseum  and  Serapeum  and  the  Temple  of  Minerva 
Chalcidica.  The  memory  of  the  latter  site  has  been  kept  by  the 
later  church  of  Sta.  Maria  sopra  Minerva.  The  temple  of  the 
Egyptian  deities  Isis  and  Serapis,  which  was  also  a  valuable 
museum,  has  likewise  left  a  local  reminder  in  the  name  of  the 
church  of  S.  Stefano  del  Cacco,  the  common  people  having 
bestowed  the  name  of  "Cacco"  on  the  Egyptian  statue  of  a 
baboon  which  remained  there  till  a  late  date.2 

415.  To  confine  ourselves  to  the  ancient  monuments  lying  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Flaminian  Way.  The  Aqueduct 
of  the  Virgin  was  followed  by  two  great  buildings,  of  which  the 
purpose  was  almost  identical ;  to  the  left  was  the  Portico  of  the 
Argonauts,  with  the  Basilica  of  the  sovereign  of  the  seas  and 
brother  of  Jupiter,  the  trident-bearer,  Neptune  ;  on  the  right  was 
the  Campus  Agrippae  with  the  Vipsanian  Portico.  These  two 
monuments  terminate  the  first  portion  of  the  road,  which,  as  already 

1  Cp.  LANCIANI,  Forma  Urbis,  PI.  15  and  16. 

2  The  mediaeval  designation  of  del  Cacco  (Macacco)  was  due  to  the  figure  of  a  cyno- 
cephalus,  seated  in  its  own  peculiar  attitude  in  front  of  the  church.  Vacca,  Afemorie, 
n.  27,  in  Fea,  MiscelL,  1,  67.  Lanciani  {Bull.  arch,  com.,  1883,  p.  37)  gives  the  Latin 
and  Greek  inscription  at  its  base.  Two  cynocephali  from  the  Temple  of  Isis  were  dug 
up  in  the  neighbourhood  in  1883  and  placed  in  the  Capitoline  Museum. 

VOL.  III.  H 


ii4 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.416 


explained,  owed  its  embellishment  to  the  Julian  clan,  and  to 
Agrippa,  the  husband  of  Julia  the  daughter  of  Augustus. 

The  broad  quadrangle  of  the  Portico  of  the  Argonauts 
reached  northwards  as  far  as  the  square  on  the  Flaminian  Way, 
in  which  the  Column  of  Marcus  Aurelius  reared  its  head.  This 
portico  and  the  Basilica  of  Neptune  which  it  encircled  were  works 
of  Agrippa.  Of  this  Basilica,  also  known  as  Poseidonion,  we  may 
still  see  the  remains  on  the  Piazza  della  Pietra,  those  eleven 
mighty  pillars  of  the  northern  atrium  which  are  such  fine  speci- 
mens of  the  Corinthian  style.  The  other  point  of  interest,  the 
Campus  Agrippae,  lying  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Flaminian 
Way,  was  a  large  green  surrounded  by  porticoes,  but  of  the 
purpose  of  which  we  know  nothing.  One  distinct  portion  of 
it  which  bordered  the  Flaminian  Way  was  known  as  the  Vip- 
sanian  Portico,  from  the  name  of  the  founder,  Marcus  Vipsanius 
Agrippa. 

Agrippa,  to  say  nothing  of  his  other  merits  and  deeds,  was  not 
only  a  great  builder,  but  also  a  zealous  student  of  geography.  It 
is  thought  that  he  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  geographical 
and  statistical  determination  of  the  Empire  ordered  by  Augustus. 
There  existed  a  large  map  of  the  world  designed  by  him  which 
probably  was  in  the  Vipsanian  Portico,  either  engraved  on  marble 
or  painted  in  colours. 

A  Mithra-Cave  in  the  Seventh  Region 

416.  At  the  northern  extremity  of  Agrippa's  buildings  there 
lay  in  the  fourth  century  a  much  frequented  Mithrasum  which 
deserves  our  attention. 

The  inscriptions  discovered  bear  witness  to  the  extraordinary 
zeal  displayed  there  for  this  form  of  worship.  Some  of  the  stones 
bearing  these  inscriptions  have  been  employed  during  the 
Middle  Ages  as  material  for  building  or  decorating  the  adjacent 
church  of  S.  Silvestro  in  Capite.  Such  a  Mithraic  inscription  of 
the  year  358  was  even  to  be  seen  below  the  little  choir  where 
sacred  relics  were  displayed.  From  these  epigraphic  texts  we 
g-ather  that  the  founder  of  this  remarkable  Mithraeum  was  the 
vir  consularis,  Nonius  Victor  Olympius,  who,  in  his  quality  of 
"father  of  fathers"  {pater  patnmi)  had  himself  performed  his 
functions  in  this  cave  ;  we  learn,  moreover,  that  this  superstitious 


No.  416] 


MITHRA-WORSHIP 


worship  continued  to  be  practised  here  till  the  seventies  of  the 
fourth  century.1 

Reception  into  these  secret  mysteries  was  very  different  from 
admission  into  the  bosom  of  the  Christian  Church.  We  may  as 
well  interrupt  the  course  of  our  topographical  ramble  to  glance 
at  this  matter,  and  to  institute  a  comparison  between  Christian 
baptism  and  initiation  into  the  secret  Eastern  rites. 

Mithra-worship  in  general  simulated  many  Christian  customs, 
and  in  particular  it  travestied  the  baptismal  ceremony — that  Chris- 
tian sacrament  of  the  New  Birth — by  certain  superstitious  and 
senseless  rites.  Tertullian  already  mentions  with  disgust  how,  in 
Mithra-worship,  "the  devil  apes  the  Christian  ritual."  He  states 
that  sins  are  declared  remitted  after  a  certain  form  of  baptism  ; 
that  those  about  to  be  initiated  are  signed  on  the  forehead  ;  that 
there  was  an  oblation  of  bread,  whilst  even  a  certain  resurrection 
from  the  dead  was  preached.2 

It  is  known  that  the  revelation  of  the  higher  mysteries  was 
delusively  promised  to  those  about  to  be  initiated.  It  is  also 
known  that  the  candidate  was  admitted  only  after  prolonged  trial, 
and  that  the  ceremony  of  initiation  was  accompanied  by  great 
excitement  of  the  senses  and  imagination  and  a  disgraceful  stimu- 
lation of  the  passions.  It  was  with  good  reason  that  Paulinus  of 
Nola  spoke  of  the  "dark  caves  of  Mithra."  Quite  different,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  the  ritual  by  which  converts  were  admitted 
into  the  Christian  Church.  Here  all  was  open  and  pure,  and 
the  aim  of  the  entire  service  was  to  enlighten  the  mind  by 
the  assurance  of  certain  truth,  and  to  purify  the  heart  by 
overcoming  worldly  feeling  and  concupiscence.  The  contrast 
between  Christianity  and  Paganism  is  nowhere  more  striking 
than  here. 

According  to  the  opinion  of  late  Roman  heathenism,  the  most 
effectual  purification  was  to  be  obtained  through  the  mock  baptism 
of  the  Taurobolium. 

The  Taurobolium  was  closely  knit  with  Mithra-worship.  By 
sacrificing  a  bull  and  being  sprinkled  with  its  blood,  Pagans  hoped 
to  secure  pardon  and  purification  from  the  "  great  Mother  Cybele  " 

1  The  inscriptions  in  the  Corp.  inscr.  lat.,  VI.,  n.  749-754,  No.  751 ab,  were  copied  "sub 
suggestu  unde  ostenduntur  reliquiae" 

2  Tertullian,  Depraescr.  adv.  haer.,  c.  40.    Cp.  Justin.,  Apol.,  1,  c.  66. 


r  1 6 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.4.6 


and  from  the  god  Attis.  In  this  rite  savagery  and  barbarism 
vied  with  most  repulsive  superstition.1 

Prudentius,  the  contemporary  poet,  has  left  a  sketch  of  this 
sanguinary  baptism.  He  describes  with  loathing  how  the  reci- 
pient of  this  rite  is  lowered  into  a  pit  covered  over  with  a  platform, 
latticed  like  a  sieve  ;  and  how,  when  the  blood  of  the  slaughtered 
animal  gushes  down  upon  him  from  above,  he  eagerly  smears  the 
liquid  over  his  whole  body — even  over  his  face  and  tongue. 
Prudentius  depicts  the  man  thus  baptized  emerging  with  his 
beard  streaming  and  clotted  with  blood,  while  all  present  do  him 
homage.  At  the  end  of  his  description  he  exclaims  with  con- 
tempt :  "  Lo,  a  dead  beast  has  conferred  radiant  purity  on  the 
happy  man  in  that  evil-smelling  hole."  2 

This  was  in  many  parts  of  the  Empire  the  manner  of  per- 
forming the  Taurobolium.  Nevertheless  outside  Italy  the  actual 
bath  of  blood  was  often  dispensed  with,  and  in  its  place  a  special 
rite  was  undergone  which  insured  participation  in  the  graces  of 
a  real  Taurobolium.  Whole  corporations,  cities,  and  provinces 
in  this  simpler  fashion  could  share  in  the  virtues  of  a  bath  in 
bull's  blood.  It  was,  however,  considered  advisable  to  renew 
this  ceremony  every  twenty  years. 

What  is  peculiar  in  these  foreign  rites  is  their  frequent  close 
connection  with  the  heathen  rites  of  Rome.  The  City  of  Rome, 
and  particularly  a  spot  on  the  Vatican  close  to  St.  Peter's  Tomb, 
was  the  headquarters  for  these  Taurobolia.  The  virtue  of  the  super- 
stitious baptism  administered  there  was  transmitted  abroad.  An 
inscription  at  Lyons  proclaims  that  the  testicles  of  the  bull  sacri- 
ficed in  Rome  had  been  sent  to  this  city  of  Gaul  that  his  efficacy 
might  also  be  transmitted.  The  festival  of  the  "Great  Mother" 
and  of  Attis  was  celebrated  in  Rome  from  the  22nd  to  the  27th 
of  March.  In  the  calendar  of  Constantius,  under  March  28,  we 
read  :  "  Beginning  of  the  Gaianum  "  (Initium  Gaiani),  a  mention 
probably  referring  to  the  opening  of  that  place  of  atonement  hard 
by  the  Circus  of  Gaius  and  near  the  Vatican  Hill.  In  this  case 
the  festival  and  rites  of  late  Paganism  would  seem  to  have 
been  purposely  fixed  at  about  the  season  when  Christians  were 
keeping  the  Feast  of  Easter  or  its  preparation,  and  when,  at 

1  PRELLER,  Rom.  Mythologie  (1858),  pp.  713,  739,  762.  On  the  Taurobolium,  see 
CUMONT,  Mysteries  of  Mithra,  p.  180  ff. 

2  Prudentius,  Peris/epk.,  10,  v.  1011-1050;  P.L.,  LX.,  520  ff. 


no.  4.7]  THE  PIAZZA  COLONNA 


117 


the  Lateran,  baptism  was  about  to  be  administered  by  the 
Bishop  of  Rome.1 

These  insulting  circumstances  connected  with  Mithra- worship 
and  the  Taurobolium  sufficiently  explain  the  outbreak  of  popular 
exasperation  and  violence  in  377,  during  which  the  City  Prefect 
Gracchus,  with  a  mob  of  armed  men,  burst  into  and  wrecked  the 
caves  of  the  devotees  of  Mithra. 

Then,  too,  must  the  fate  have  been  sealed  of  the  Mithraeum  on 
the  Flaminian  Way  near  S.  Silvestro  in  Capite — a  sudden  over- 
throw during  which  the  great  architectural  structures  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood were  dumb  witnesses  of  fierce  and  bloody  scenes.  The 
"Father  of  Fathers"  in  this  Mithra-cave,  with  his  hierarchy  of 
"  Persians,"  "  heliodromes,"  and  "  lions,"  must  certainly  have 
learnt  then  that  his  day  was  long  since  past.  Paganism  proved 
by  its  own  excesses  during  its  decline  that  it  was  more  than  ever 
impotent  to  raise  human  nature  either  morally  or  mentally. 

The  church  of  San  Silvestro,  near  the  former  Mithraeum,  does 
not  call  for  any  historical  or  topographical  remarks,  for  it  was  not 
yet  in  existence  in  the  sixth  century.  It  was  erected  afterwards 
by  Paul  I.  near  his  father's  house,  which  he  had  transformed  into 
the  monastery  of  SS.  Silvester  and  Stephen.2 

Second  Part  of  the  Via  Flaminia  within  the  City 

417.  Opposite  San  Silvestro  a  third  arch  crossed  the  Flami- 
nian Way,  the  Triumphal  Arch  of  the  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius 
Antoninus.  Farther  to  the  left  of  the  road  the  massive  Column 
of  Antoninus  Pius  and  the  Ustrinum  Antoninorum  at  its  foot 
arrested  one's  view  ;  more  to  the  south  and  nearer  to  our  course, 
the  Column  of  Marcus  Aurelius  rose  triumphantly  on  the  site  it 
still  occupies.  This  last  monument  was  the  most  striking  in  the 
magnificent  panorama. 

The  huge,  renowned  Column  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  the  pre- 
sent colossal  ornament  of  the  Piazza  Colonna,  was  erected  as  an 
imitation  of  Trajan's  Column,  shortly  after  the  death  of  Marcus 
Aurelius  in  180  (see  vol.  i.,  111.  36).  With  its  winding  band  of 
bas-reliefs  it  soared  above  a  vast  court  surrounded  by  porticoes. 

1  For  the  Lyons  inscription  and  the  Calendar,  see  PRELLER,  ibid.,  p.  741. 

2  Liber pont.,  1,  464,  Pau/us,  n.  260. 


n8 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  417 


Like  its  fellow  on  Trajan's  Forum,  it  could  always  be  ascended 
by  a  staircase  within.  Like  the  other,  too,  its  base  is  no  longer 
visible,  but  has  disappeared  beneath  the  surface  of  the  surround- 
ing streets,  the  present  false  base  being  an  addition  made  by 
Sixtus  V.  Upon  the  summit  Sixtus  placed  a  statue  of  St.  Paul, 
to  match  that  of  St.  Peter  on  Trajan's  Column. 

As  we  said,  in  the  Middle  Ages  Trajan's  Column  had  a  chapel 
at  its  foot,  which  acted  in  some  sense  as  its  guardian.  The 
Column  of  Aurelius  had  a  similar  sentinel  in  the  little  church  of 
S.  Andreas  de  Columpna,  which  subserved  the  neighbouring 
Basilica  of  St.  Silvester.  Hence  there  devolved  on  a  Christian 
place  of  worship  that  duty  of  watching  over  the  Column  of  Marcus 
Aurelius,  which  once  in  classical  times  had  been  bestowed  upon 
a  certain  Adrastus.  According  to  an  inscription  found  here, 
Adrastus  held  the  post  and  title  of  procurator  columnae  cente- 
nariae  divi  Marci,  and  had  his  lodgings  close  by  the  monument.1 

The  Column  on  the  Flaminian  Way  is  entirely  covered  with 
tolerably  well-preserved  scenes  from  the  victories  of  the  Emperor 
Marcus  Aurelius  over  the  Quadi  and  Marcomanni.  The  bas- 
reliefs  are,  however,  less  perfect  artistically  than  those  on  Trajan's 
Column. 

One  of  these  may  have  been  regarded  by  Christians  with 
especial  interest.  It  occupies  a  favourable  position  on  the  third 
round  from  below,  facing  the  street.  We  allude  to  the  bas-relief 
where  a  figure  with  broad,  dripping  wings  represents  that  miracu- 
lous downpour  which,  accompanied  by  a  fearful  storm,  saved  the 
Roman  army  in  Dacia  from  dying  of  thirst  and  from  the  assault 
of  the  enemy  (111.  195).  All  Christians  who  had  read  Tertullian's 
Apoiogetictis  would  remember  that  that  famous  writer  speaks  of 
this  rescue,  and  that  both  heathen  and  Christians  ascribed  it  to 
the  prayer  of  Christian  soldiers  belonging  to  the  Legio  fulmmata, 
or  Thundering  Legion.  Even  earlier  than  Tertullian,  the  con- 
temporaries Apollinaris,  Bishop  of  Hierapolis  in  Phrygia,  and  Dio 
Cassius,  the  Pagan,  are  witnesses  to  this  extraordinary  incident, 
each,  naturally,  in  his  own  style.    The  impartial  representation  of 

1  The  inscription  of  Adrastus  is  in  the  Galleria  Lapidaria  of  the  Vatican.  The 
Columna  ccntcnaria  taken  care  of  by  Adrastus  was  175  Roman  feet  in  height,  according 
to  the  Constantine  Catalogue.  In  the  portico  of  S.  Silvestro  in  Capite  may  still  be  seen 
the  inscription  of  11 19  concerning  the  rights  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Silvester  over  the 
"  cohtmpna  A?ifoni?ii"  and  the  "  ccclesia  S.  Andrec,  que  circa  earn  sita  est."  ARMELLINI, 
C/iiese2,  p.  298,  and  FORCELLA,  Iscrizioni,  9,  79,  n.  149,  for  poor  reproductions. 


No.  417] 


THE  FLAMINIAN  WAY 


119 


the  scene  on  the  Column  is  curious  ;  it  is  equally  deficient  in 
Christian  or  heathen  colouring;  it  is  no  Jupiter  Pluvius  who 
hovers  as  a  saviour  above  the  harassed  soldiers  rushing  against 
the  foeman's  ranks — in  fact,  it  is  no  heathen  deity  at  all,  and  still 
less  the  Christian  God,  but  merely  a  huge  personification  of  Rain. 
The  figure  is  indeed  in  striking  harmony  with  the  neutral  and 
purely  Platonic  attitude  which  the  "  philosopher,"  Marcus  Aurelius, 
ever  observed  towards  the  religions  of  the  Empire.1 

Most  probably  a  Templum  divi  Marci  was  connected  with 
the  Column  of  Aurelius  and  the  porticoes  surrounding  it,  just  as 
Trajan's  Column  had  its  Templum  divi  Traiani.  About  this  we 
have,  however,  no  certain  knowledge. 

But  excavations  and  ancient  topographical  accounts  concur  as 
to  the  existence  and  situation  of  another  twofold  monument  of 
the  Antonines,  namely  the  Column  of  Antoninus  Pius  and  the 
Ustrinum  or  Crematorium.  Both,  as  has  been  shown  recently, 
were  closely  connected.  The  Ustrinum  of  the  Antonines  was 
intended  for  the  cremation  of  the  bodies  of  the  family  and  to 
enclose  the  ornamental  cinerary  urns.  In  front  of  this  stood  the 
Column  of  Antoninus,  with  its  wonderful  sculptures  as  a  trophy 
to  his  fame.  The  fragments  of  this  column  were  found  early  in 
the  eighteenth  century  in  the  garden  of  the  Casa  della  Missione, 
and  the  great  pedestal  now  graces  one  of  the  Vatican  courts, 
where  it  does  duty  as  a  mount  to  the  bronze  pine-cone  known  as 
the  Pigna.  This  mode  of  employment  is  a  distinct  humiliation, 
for  the  bas-reliefs  on  the  superb  work  represent  nothing  less  than 
the  apotheosis  of  the  Emperor  Antoninus  Pius,  whose  statue 
formerly  looked  down  from  the  summit  of  the  Column.2 

Leaving  the  site  of  these  monuments  lying  off  our  road,  we 
reach  the  Arch  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  which  crosses  the  Flaminian 
Way,  and  was  separated  only  by  a  low  hill,  the  present  Monte 
Citorio,  from  the  structures  we  have  just  visited. 

The  Arch  of  Marcus  Aurelius  has  now  disappeared,  and  the 
only  reminder  of  it  is  a  late  inscription  placed  on  the  corner 

1  Our  Illustration  195  is  from  the  fine  new  work  of  Petersen  (Die  Marcussaule,  1897). 
Cp.  CiviltA  catt.,  1895,  1,  pp.  716-724,  II  proaigio  della  legio  fulminata.  What  has  been 
written  since  on  the  story  or  on  the  reliefs  has  left  my  opinions  unchanged.  To  the  left 
are  seen  the  Romans,  to  the  right  the  slain  or  fleeing  barbarians.  In  the  background 
Roman  soldiers  are  catching  the  rain  in  their  shields.  On  the  legend,  see  Tertullian, 
Apol.,  5  ;  Ad  Scapulam,  4  ;  APOLLINARIS  in  EUSEBIUS,  Hist.  eccl\  iv.  27  ;  Dio  CASS., 
lxxi.  8-10,  ed.  DlNDORF,  1863,  4,  p.  176. 

2  The  inscription  on  the  pedestal  is  in  Corp.  inscr.  lat.,  vi.,  n.  1004. 


I  20 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No. 418 


house  of  the  Via  della  Vite.  This  informs  us  that,  in  1662, 
Alexander  VII.  had  demolished  the  arch,  then  known  as  Arco 
di  Portosfallo.  This  name  the  arch  had  borne  since  the  time 
of  Paul  III.,  having  obtained  it  from  the  adjoining  residence  of 
the  Portuguese  cardinal,  Michael  de  Silva,  the  old  palace  of  the 
Dukes  of  Fiano.  The  Triumphal  Arch,  originally  erected  in  honour 
of  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  was  later  re-decorated  and  dedicated  to 
Marcus  Aurelius,  the  exploits  and  the  family  of  this  Emperor 
being  glorified  in  the  great  bas-reliefs  with  which  the  structure 
was  adorned. 

Since  the  overthrow  of  the  Triumphal  Arch,  portions  of  its 
great  sculptured  panels  have  been  preserved,  scattered  in  various 
places.  For  instance,  any  one  visiting  the  Palazzo  dei  Con- 
servatori  on  the  Capitol  would  there  find  remains  on  the  stair- 
case inside,  and  the  trained  eye  will  easily  recognise  the  recurring 
portrait  of  the  philosophic  Emperor.  He  will  be  seen  taking 
part  in  the  apotheosis  of  his  deceased  wife,  Faustina  the  Younger  ; 
sitting  lost  in  reflection  in  front  of  the  burning  pyre,  from  which 
a  female  genius  with  a  burning  torch  in  its  hand  ascends  to  the 
Immortals,  among  whom  the  Senate  by  a  decree  had  placed  the 
Empress.  This  sort  of  deification  had  become  a  custom  and  a 
need  with  the  reigning  families,  a  conception  of  glory  encouraged 
even  by  the  noblest  representatives  of  Paganism,  which  contrasted 
strangely  with  the  views  of  early  mediaeval  Christians.  Chris- 
tianity had  already  imbued  the  whole  vast  Empire  with  entirely 
opposite  doctrines,  with  its  teaching  of  the  importance  of  per- 
sonality, and  of  the  future  reward  awaiting  the  humble  and  meek. 

Third  Part  of  the  Via  Flaminia  within  the  City 

418.  The  last  portion  of  the  Flaminian  Way  calls  the  visitor 
from  Marcus  Aurelius  back  to  the  Augustan  age,  for  the  splendid 
monuments,  on  the  left  hand  of  the  Way  at  least,  in  the  so-called 
Campus  Martius,  date  from  the  grandest  days  of  Rome. 

First  of  all  we  see,  quite  near  to  the  Arch  of  Marcus  Aurelius, 
Augustus's  Altar  of  Peace  {ara  pads  Augustae).  Behind  this, 
more  to  the  left,  towered  the  Augustan  Obelisk,  with  the  large 
sun-dial  at  its  base.  Further  to  the  north,  beside  the  Piazza 
Otto  Cantoni,  and  close  to  the  road,  was  the  Ustrinum  of  the 
Augustan  family,  and  still  further  back  towards  the  Tiber,  the 


No.  418] 


THE  FLAMINIAN  WAY 


1 2 1 


vast,  lofty  Mausoleum  of  Augustus,  which  commanded  the  whole 
district. 

One  who  cared  for  art  and  humanity  would  probably  have 
been  attracted  most  by  the  first  of  the  monuments,  namely,  by 
the  Altar  of  Peace.  It  was  erected  in  the  year  b.c.  13  to 
commemorate  the  Emperor's  return  from  Spain  and  Gaul.  The 
result  of  his  martial  exploits  was  a  universal  peace,  and  the 
Senate,  desiring  to  celebrate  this  great  truce,  erected  this  huge 
altar  to  it. 

The  work  displayed  the  highest  perfection  of  sculpture. 
Scarcely  any  ornamental  creation  of  antiquity  excels  in  combined 
skill,  grace,  and  power  the  bas-reliefs  which  decorate  the  surviving 
remains  of  this  vast  memorial  altar.  Since  the  ruin  of  the 
structure,  its  remains  were  unhappily  dispersed  in  various  direc- 
tions. By  studying  them  in  connection  with  earlier  copies,  the 
design  of  the  altar  has,  however,  been  made  clear.  The  richly 
decorated  altar  stood  in  the  open  air,  upon  a  square  substructure 
with  several  steps,  and  inside  a  square  enclosure  of  marble  walls 
beautified  by  sculptured  scenes.1 

The  monument  attracted  the  notice  of  certain  artists  fairly 
early  in  the  Middle  Ages.  An  Umbrian  school  of  sculpture, 
which  devoted  itself  with  singular  success  during  the  twelfth 
century  to  the  study  of  classical  ornaments,  seems — if  we  are 
not  mistaken — to  have  been  much  indebted  to  this  marvellous 
creation,  which  at  that  time  must  have  been  still  standing  un- 
injured. Even  Christian  visitors  who  were  not  artists  must 
often  have  paused  before  the  Altar  of  Peace,  and  reflected  how 
the  state  of  universal  peace  on  earth  under  that  great  sovereign 
prepared  the  way  for  the  blessings  of  the  Incarnation  and  Atone- 
ment. The  Fathers  often  speak  of  the  peace  under  Augustus 
as  an  evident  work  of  Divine  Providence.  According  to  them, 
it  was  fitting  that  all  nations  should  be  united  in  the  bosom  of 
the  Roman  Empire  in  peace  and  friendship  to  show  that  all,  like 
one  vast  family,  were  called  to  receive  the  blessings  of  the  future 
Saviour.2 

1  Cp.  Petersen's  article  on  the  Ara  pacts  Augustae  in  Mitth.  des  arch.  Instit.  (Bullet- 
tino,  &c),  1894,  p.  171  ff.  Since  1550  fine  fragments  of  the  monument  have  been  found  in 
the  soil  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Palazzo  Ottoboni-Fiano.  Some,  found  in  1859,  are  still 
standing  in  the  courtyard  of  the  Palazzo  ;  others  are  preserved  in  the  Galeria  degli 
Uffizii  at  Florence,  in  the  Paris  Louvre,  and  elsewhere. 

2  On  the  mediaeval  Umbrian  school  of  sculpture  of  Meliorantius,  see  my  article  in 
the  Nuovo  Bull,  di  arch,  crist.,  1  (1895),  42  ff.,  127  ff.,  especially  pp.  45  and  130. 


I  22 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.4>8 


The  Obelisk  of  Augustus  was  a  memorial  of  the  Emperor's 
successful  subjugation  of  Egypt.1 

Many  fragments  of  the  obelisk  and  its  famous  sun-dial  are 
preserved  in  the  present  new  obelisk  on  the  Piazza  in  front  of 
the  Palazzo  di  Monte  Citorio,  but  the  situation  is  not  the  old 
one,  for  the  monument  formerly  stood  much  more  to  the  north. 
It  also  had  a  large  open  space  stretching  northwards,  on  the 
pavement  of  which  were  cut  the  lines  of  the  Augustan  Sun- 
dial.   The  style  or  needle  of  the  dial  was  the  obelisk  itself.2 

At  this  spot,  again,  a  Christian  shrine  attracts  our  attention. 
On  the  eastern  side  of  the  square,  close  to  the  boundary  of 
the  recently  discovered  outlines  of  the  sun-dial,  the  church  of 
St.  Lawrence  in  Lucina  was  built  as  early  as  the  fourth  century. 
The  origin  is  otherwise  unknown,  but  Pope  Damasus,  who  was 
consecrated  in  this  church  in  366,  may  have  been  responsible 
for  its  dedication  to  the  saintly  deacon  Lawrence.  Damasus 
was  devoted  to  this  Roman  martyr,  and  it  was  he  who  dedicated 
to  him  the  other  church,  called  later  St.  Lawrence  in  Damaso. 
It  may  be  that  the  fragment  of  a  Damasian  inscription  dug  up 
in  1872,  near  the  church  of  St.  Lawrence  in  Lucina,  has  an 
important  historical  bearing  on  this  matter ;  but  there  is  no 
proof  that  this  inscription  belonged  originally  to  this  spot ;  it 
might  quite  well  have  migrated  thither  from  elsewhere,  as  is 
often  the  case  with  such  fragments  in  Rome.3 

Another  church  in  this  neighbourhood  of  the  Flaminian 
Way,  or  Corso,  retains  the  memory  of  the  Mausoleum  of 
Augustus  (111.  196).4  This  is  the  church  of  S.  Giacomo  in 
Augusta.  It  was,  however,  only  built  during  mediaeval  times 
in  the  gardens  which  formerly  surrounded  the  grand  sepulchre. 

The  greater  part  of  the  Mausoleum  itself  is  still  standing. 
In   the  middle  it  encloses   an   enormous  circular  building  of 

1  The  inscription  upon  the  obelisk,  erected  in  the  year  B.C.  10,  says  of  Augustus  and  of 
this  work:  " sEgypto  in  potestalcm  populi  romani  redacta  soli  donum  dcdit"  Corp. 
inscr.  Int.,  VI.,  n.  702.  The  Egyptian  obelisk  dates  from  Psammeticus  II.,  in  the  sixth 
century  B.C. 

2  The  present  obelisk  is  composed  of  fragments  of  the  ancient  one  and  of  the  Column 
of  Antoninus  Pius.  On  the  sun-dial,  cp.  Pliny,  Hist,  nat.,  36,  c.  72,  and  the  reports  of 
the  excavations  in  the  Corp.  inscr.  Int.,  I.e.  According  to  these  reports,  there  were  "  varia 
signa  coelestia  ex  aere  artificio  mirabili  in  pavimento  circa  gnomonetn." 

3  On  the  fragment,  see  DE  ROSSI,  Bull.  arch,  crist,  1872,  p.  34,  and  PI.  3,  n.  3.  It 
was  found  in  1872,  during  excavations  at  the  left  of  the  portico  of  the  church.  Several 
of  the  mortuary  inscriptions  dug  up  on  the  same  spot  had,  however,  evidently  come  from 
other  places. 

4  From  Schneider,  Das  alte  Rom,  PI.  8,  No.  14. 


No.  418] 


THE  FLAMINIAN  WAY 


123 


about  the  size  of  the  moles  Hadriani,  the  Mausoleum  of 
Hadrian,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Tiber.  The  tomb  is  a 
genuine  moles  Augiisli,  which,  no  doubt,  stimulated  Hadrian 
to  surpass  it  in  grandeur.  The  ascending  tiers  of  marble 
supported  at  the  summit  a  circular  mound  of  earth,  divided  by 
terraces,  and  planted  with  cypresses  and  other  shrubs,  thus 
harmonising  with  the  gardens,  which  stretched  far  to  the  north 
towards  the  Flaminian  Gate.  Two  obelisks  adorned  the  entrance 
on  the  south  side.     During  the  sixth  century  they  were  doubt- 


111.  196 — Mausoleum  of  Augustus.    Partially  reconstructed. 


less  still  standing,  but  were  later  on  thrown  down  and  broken  ; 
later  still  they  were  rescued  from  oblivion  and  migrated  to 
their  present  places — one  to  the  Quirinal  among  the  fountains 
before  the  Palace,  the  other  to  the  Esquiline  behind  the  apse 
of  Sta.  Maria  Map-criore. 

The  gardens  around  the  Mausoleum  in  the  sixth  century 
could  scarcely  have  stood  a  comparison  with  their  condition  in 
the  period  immediately  following  Augustus.  The  first  districts 
to  feel  the  decline  of  Rome's  fortunes  must  have  been  those 
which  were  not  covered  with  buildings  capable  of  defying 
assaults,  and  which  were  of  no  use  for  business  or  any  other 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  419 


practical  purpose,  but  only  served  to  embellish  the  City.  We 
may  also  take  it  that  plundering  barbarians  were  specially 
attracted  by  the  lavish  splendour  of  the  decorations,  such  as 
the  valuable  cinerary  urns.  The  Mausoleum  of  Augustus  con- 
tained urns  with  the  ashes  of  Agrippa,  Drusus,  Germanicus,  and 
of  the  Emperors  Tiberius,  Claudius,  and  Nerva,  the  last  sovereign 
to  be  laid  to  rest  here. 

419.  If  the  left  side  of  the  Flaminian  Way,  as  it  approached 
the  outskirts  of  the  Imperial  City,  was  bordered  with  gardens, 
this  was  the  case  still  more  on  the  right  side.  On  this  side 
the  Einsiedeln  Itinerary  mentions  the  Pariturium,  which  is 
spoken  of  nowhere  else.  Beyond  this,  on  the  right-hand  side, 
the  only  monument  known  is  a  lengthy,  handsome,  but  name- 
less building,  mainly  composed  of  rectangular  porticoes.  To 
the  south  it  perhaps  comprised  the  site  of  the  later  church 
of  St.  Silvester,  whilst  to  the  north  it  reached  beyond  the 
present  Via  Frattina.  In  1883  and  1886,  in  the  latter  street 
and  in  the  Via  della  Vite,  massive  pillars  of  red  granite  from 
the  East,  and  of  Cipollino  marble,  were  dug  up,  which  must 
have  formed  part  of  this  structure,  and  bear  witness  to  its  size 
and  splendour  ;  also'  blocks  of  peperino,  slabs  of  divers  kinds 
of  marble  for  facing  the  walls,  and  other  building  materials 
showed  the  magnificence  of  the  extensive  buildings  situated 
here.  What  name  or  what  purpose  they  may  have  had  is  not 
easily  decided.  Andrea  Palladio  left  a  drawing  of  the  remains, 
which  were  still  to  be  seen  in  his  day,  and  this  sketch  has  been 
taken  by  Rodolfo  Lanciani  and  others  as  proof  of  the  existence 
at  this  spot  of  two  connected  pleasure-gardens  surrounded  by 
porticoes.  The  arrangement  of  certain  gardens  at  Pompeii 
would  certainly  go  to  confirm  this  opinion.  Christian  Hiilsen, 
on  the  contrary,  sees  in  Palladio's  sketch  the  plan  of  Aurelian's 
famous  Temple  of  the  Sun,  which  he  locates  here.  The 
arguments  for  this  view  are  indeed  of  weight,  but  how  can  we 
account  for  the  absence  of  any  testimony  to  the  position  of  the 
far-famed  Temple  of  the  Sun  in  this  part  of  Rome?  How  is 
it  that  on  the  supposed  site  of  the  temple  there  should  exist 
no  trace  of  masonry,  but  merely  garden  soil  ?  And  is  any 
satisfactory  answer  forthcoming  to  the  arguments  by  which  the 
great  Aurelian  Temple  of  the  Sun  has  always  been  located  on 


No.  420] 


THE  FLAMINIAN  GATE. 


the  south-western  slope  of  the  Quirinal,  near  the  Baths  of 
Constantine  ? 1 

The  Mausoleum  of  the  Emperor  Augustus  was  also  the 
mighty  pioneer  of  a  whole  array  of  other  sepulchral  monuments, 
which  adjoined  it  to  the  north.  They  stood  isolated  among 
the  gardens  which  fringed  the  Flaminian  Way  near  the  City 
boundaries,  and  belonged  to  a  period  previous  to  the  erection 
of  the  Aurelian  Wall. 

Where  now,  at  the  end  of  the  Corso,  stand  face  to  face  the 
two  churches  of  Our  Lady,  like  two  kindly  sentinels  on  the 
road,  two  pompous  tombs  once  stood  on  either  side  of  the 
Flaminian  Way.  To  the  left  was  one  in  the  shape  of  a  pyramid, 
which,  in  mediaeval  times,  was  popularly  called  meta,  like  the 
pyramid  of  Cestius  at  the  Ostian  Gate.  It  remained  there 
probably  till  the  time  of  Pope  Paul  III.  The  opposite  one, 
of  which  little  is  known,  also  had  a  large  square  base.  The 
foundations  of  both  were  partly  laid  bare  in  1874,  when 
workmen  were  digging  in  the  Piazza  del  Popolo. 

Upon  this  fine  piazza  an  Egyptian  obelisk  now  rears  its 
lofty  head.  As  it  was  brought  to  this  site  from  the  Circus 
Maximus  by  Sixtus  V.,  we  shall  not  consider  it  here. 

The  Surroundings  of  the  Flaminian  Gate 

420.  A  visitor  in  ancient  times  following  the  straight  line  of 
the  Flaminian  Way  through  the  Flaminian  Gate  would  have 
perceived  to  the  left,  just  outside  the  Aurelian  City  Wall, 
another  sepulchral  monument  of  huge  size.  Its  inscription 
and  reliefs  are  a  striking  memorial  of  the  habits  of  Imperial 
Rome.  The  Einsiedeln  Guide  noticed  it  and  copied  the  in- 
scription, which  extols  the  deceased,  ^Elius  Gutta  Calpurnius, 
as  one  of  the  greatest  charioteers  and  jockeys  of  his  time. 
His  immortal  victories  are  all  registered  in  the  lengthy  text 
of  the  inscription  ;  the  factions  for  which  he  won  prizes  are 
all  named  with  painful  precision  ;  even  the  names  of  the  horses 
are  engraved  and  immortalised  with  the  rider  ;  five  of  the  luckiest 
actually  have  their  portraits  graven  in  outline  on  the  monument, 

1  Hiilsen  argues  for  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  being  on  the  Flaminian  Way  in  the  Bull, 
arch,  com.,  1895,  p.  39  ff.,  with  PI.  4.  On  the  double  garden,  see  Lanciani,  Bull.  arch, 
com.,  1894,  p.  285  ff. ;  1895,  p.  94  ff.  Lanciani  deals  with  Palladio's  sketch,  of  which  he 
was  the  discoverer,  ibid.,  1894,  p.  304,  PI.  12  f. 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  420 


namely  Palmatus,  Danaus,  Oceanus,  Victor,  and  Vindex ;  the 
charioteer's  quadriga  also  figures  among  the  representations. 
This  far-famed  hero  belonged  to  the  time  of  the  Antonines.  The 
fate  of  his  sepulchral  monument  was  tragic.  It  seems  to  have 
existed  down  to  the  fifteenth  century,  when  it  was  demolished. 
In  1877,  when  the  two  fortified  towers  flanking  the  Gate,  and 
dating  from  Sixtus  IV.,  were  pulled  down,  remains  of  the  vanished 
tomb  were  found  built  into  the  right-hand  tower.  When  the 
tower  was  being  erected,  builders  who  had  no  respect  for 
the  exploits  of  Calpurnius  had  apparently  made  use  of  his 
mausoleum  as  material  for  their  work.  These  remains,  with 
their  graven  portraits,  are  now  exposed  in  the  town  museum 
on  the  Caelius.1 

The  Einsiedeln  Guide  also  preserves  the  text  of  another 
inscription  which  could  formerly  be  read  close  to  the  Flaminian 
Gate.  This  did  not  belong  to  a  tomb,  but  concerned  municipal 
affairs,  and  made  known  a  law  of  Marcus  Aurelius  regard- 
ing payment  of  import  dues.  The  inscription  proves  that  a 
whole  century  before  the  Aurelian  Wall  was  built  the  urban 
boundary  line,  where  these  duties  were  levied,  passed  near  this 
spot.2 

The  Imperial  Mausoleum  of  the  Domitians,  near  the  Flaminian 
Gate,  was  also  erected  outside  the  City.  It  was  another  of  the 
superb  memorials  crowning  the  north-west  side  of  the  Pincian 
Hill,  and  stood  upon  the  rising  ground  immediately  behind  the 
present  church  of  Sta.  Maria  del  Popolo.  The  ashes  of  the 
Emperor  Nero,  who  belonged  to  this  family,  were  deposited 
here.  The  Romans  of  the  Middle  Ages,  mindful  of  the  fact 
that  the  cruel  persecutor  of  the  Church  had  found  his  last  resting- 
place  here,  regarded  it  with  a  sort  of  uneasy  dread.  It  was  said 
that  Nero's  ghost  was  wont  to  quit  its  place  of  torment  and  to 
haunt  this  spot,  showing  itself  and  making  itself  heard.  The  late 
mediaeval  legend  of  the  origin  of  the  church  just  mentioned 
connects  the  building  with  Nero's  dark  memory  and  his  restless 
ghost.     It  tells  us  how  the  desecrated  spot  demanded  an  act 

1  See  inscription  of  the  Einsiedeln  MS.  in  Corp.  inscr.  lot.,  VI.,  n.  10047  a.b.c, 
and  in  DE  Rossi,  Inscr.  christ.,  2,  1,  p.  29,  n.  59  ff.  Cp.  C.  L.  VlSCONTl,  Delle  scope7-te 
avvenute  per  la  demolizione  delle  torri  dclla  porta  flaminia  (Bull.  arch,  com.,  1877,  p.  184 
ff.).    Lanciani,  Anient  Rome,  p.  215. 

2  Corp.  inscr.  lat.,  VI.,  n.  1016  a.  DE  ROSSI,  Inscr.  chrisL,  2,  1,  p.  27,  n.  50  ;  p.  29, 
n.  57  ;  id.,  Piante  di  Roma,  p.  48. 


No.  421] 


THE  FLAMINIAN  GATE 


of  reparation,  and  how  it  was  restored  to  calm  only  after  the 
erection  of  this  church  of  Our  Lady  by  Paschal  II.1 

Most  of  the  older  Roman  topographers  agreed  in  placing  the 
ancient  Flaminian  Gateway  upon  this  slope  of  the  Pincian  Hill. 
This  mistake  was  due  to  the  misunderstanding  of  a  passage  in 
Procopius.  The  natural  spot  to  seek  for  the  Gate  was  at  the 
end  of  the  straight  street,  and  in  recent  times  this  has  been 
proved  to  have  been  the  case  beyond  a  shadow  of  doubt. 
While  work  was  in  progress  at  the  Porta  del  Popolo  in  1877, 
it  became  quite  clear  that  this  Gate  occupied  exactly  the  position 
of  the  ancient  Flaminian  Gate  in  the  Aurelian  Wall ;  and  below 
the  Porta  del  Popolo  remains  were  even  found  of  the  original 
circular  towers  of  the  Porta  Flaminia} 

421.  The  battlements  of  these  Aurelian  towers,  or,  better 
still,  the  heights  near  the  Imperial  Mausoleum  of  the  Domitians, 
enable  us  to  cast  a  glance  back  at  the  glories  we  have  passed  in 
the  City  and  at  the  grand  panorama  beyond. 

On  the  left  the  horizon  is  bounded  by  the  terraced  slopes  of 
the  Pincian  Hill,  with  the  gardens  and  buildings  belonging  to  the 
Acilii,  that  Christian  family  whose  acquaintance  we  have  already 
made.  Adjoining  them  also  on  the  left  of  the  picture,  behind  a  great 
nymphaeum  at  the  foot  of  the  Pincius,  we  see  the  long,  picturesque 
series  of  arcades  of  the  Aqua  Virgo  beginning  its  course  into  the 
City.  Quite  to  the  right,  on  the  other  verge  of  the  City,  beyond 
the  Tiber  and  below  the  Vatican  Hill,  rises  St.  Peter's  venerable 
Basilica,  which  then,  as  now,  faces  our  vantage-ground,  its  front 
corresponding  to  its  ancient  form,  that  of  a  five-aisled  Basilica. 
The  wall  above  the  atrium  glitters  in  the  sun  with  its  great 
mosaics  on  a  gold  ground,  visible  from  afar.  To  its  left  a 
keen  eye  might  discern  the  slender  spike  of  the  Obelisk  in 
the  Circus  of  Gaius  and  Nero.  On  the  same  right  bank  of 
the  Tiber  our  glance  rests  on  Hadrian's  Mausoleum,  and  then, 

1  Towards  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages,  however,  a  tower  standing  nearer  the  river 
was  considered  the  spectre's  haunt.  The  plan  of  Rome  in  Mantua  marks  there  the 
"torre  dove  stette  gran  tempo  il  spirito  di  Nerone"  ;  the  plan  in  the  Cod.  Urbin.,  n.  277, 
belonging  to  the  fifteenth  century,  also  gives  a  "  turris  itbi  umbra  Nero7iis  din  mansitavit." 
Both  plans  were  re-issued  by  DE  Rossi,  Piante,  PI.  3,  6. 

2  Cp.  Visconti's  previously  cited  article.  Jordan,  in  his  Topograpliie,  1,  1,  p.  353, 
says  :  "  It  is  certain  that  the  ancient  Porta  Flaminia  stood  further  east,  on  the  slope 
of  Monte  Pincio."  In  Rome  many  such  topographical  questions  have  of  late  been 
thus  settled  by  spade  and  pick.  On  the  excavations  on  the  Flaminian  Way  outside  the 
City,  see  TOMASSETTI,  La  Via  Flaminia. 


128 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No. 421 


travelling  across  the  river,  dwells  in  astonishment  upon  the 
buildings  in  the  Campus  Martius,  of  which  the  series  begins 
with  the  Mole  of  Augustus. 

We  have  alluded  merely  to  the  monuments  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Flaminian  Way,  disregarding  a  host  of  towering  architectural 
structures  on  the  level  ground  of  the  Campus  Martius  and  in  the 
ninth  region  lying  to  the  west  of  the  road,  i.e.  to  our  right. 
Among  these  were  the  Baths  of  Nero  and  of  Alexander  Severus. 
Their  massive  outlines  seem  to  form  a  centre  to  this  forest  of 
masterpieces  in  stone.  To  the  left  the  cupola  of  the  Pantheon 
soars  into  space,  while  to  the  right  extend  the  lofty,  colossal 
walls  and  tiers  of  seats  of  Domitian's  Stadium  on  the  present 
Piazza  Navona. 

Before  and  behind  this  group  temple-roofs,  theatres,  thermae, 
gables  of  entrances  to  porticoes  or  gardens,  mingled  with  columns, 
obelisks,  triumphal  arches,  and  cupolas  of  every  kind,  all  rising 
towards  the  radiant  southern  sky,  concealed,  below,  the  superb 
porticoes  with  their  fountains,  shops,  statues  and  other  works 
of  art. 

It  is  true  that  at  the  time  of  our  ramble  all  this  showed  signs 
of  decay,  but  even  in  the  sixth  century  the  aspect  of  the  Queen  of 
the  World  still  bore  the  stamp  of  beauty  and  grandeur  impressed 
upon  her.  Looking  down  the  majestic  course  of  the  Flaminian 
Way,  with  its  triumphal  arches,  the  eye  was  not  confined  as  it 
now  is  to  the  narrow  line  of  roadway.  At  that  period  it  was 
possible  to  look  over  the  monuments  ranged  on  each  side  of 
the  road  both  to  the  right  and  to  the  left.  In  the  background, 
beyond  the  Saepta  Julia,  could  be  seen  the  frowning  stronghold 
of  the  Capitol ;  below  the  Baths  of  Constantine  was  Trajan's 
Forum,  while  the  Baths  themselves  could  be  discerned  in  all  their 
enormous  length  seated  on  a  projection  of  the  Ouirinal ;  behind 
these,  on  the  Viminal  and  Esquiline  Hills,  lay  a  confused  mass  of 
houses  and  monuments,  interspersed  by  gardens. 

Quite  humble  is  the  appearance  of  the  Christian  Basilicas 
among  all  these  buildings,  while  that  of  the  monasteries  is  even 
humbler.  The  churches  and  monasteries  of  the  great  City  were 
wont  to  lavish  their  own  peculiar  decorations  on  their  interiors. 
Nevertheless  St.  Peter's,  the  Lateran,  and  a  few  other  Imperial 
foundations  were  happy  exceptions  even  in  outward  appearance. 

These  insignificant-looking  churches  and  monasteries  were, 


111.  197.— Statue  of  Augustus,  from 
Prima  Porta. 

(Now  in  the  Vatican.) 


No.42ii  THE  FLAMINIAN  GATE 


however,  to  take  possession  in  future  ages  of  the  inheritance  of 
the  classic  world.  The  fallen  Empire  and  the  heathen  Capital 
were  dead  for  evermore.  The  vision  of  splendour  over  which 
our  eyes  have  roamed  was  hopelessly  doomed  to  vanish.  The 
fate  then  overtaking  the  master-works  of  genius  in  this  focus 
of  the  world's  history  deserves  indeed  to  excite  throughout  all 
time  the  sympathy  of  mankind.  Our  only  comfort  is  in  the 
recollection  that  Providence  preserved  much  of  what  was  noblest 
and  best  in  Rome  and  the  ancient  world,  and  transformed  it  for 
the  good  of  humanity. 

With  what  feelings,  however,  must  cultured  pilgrims  from 
Germania  on  their  visit  to  declining  Rome  have  regarded  the 
inscriptions  and  monuments  on  the  Via  Flaminia,  which  spoke 
of  Rome's  eternal  rule  over  the  world  ?  Pilgrims  from  the 
North  usually  entered  the  City  by  this  highway,  and  on  their 
road  they  certainly  had  reason  enough  to  compare  things  as 
they  were  with  what  they  had  been  once.  At  the  Mausoleum 
of  Augustus  the  inscriptions  on  the  bronze  tables  at  the  entrance 
glorified  the  Emperor  as  Conqueror  of  the  World.1  What  had, 
however,  become  of  the  sceptre  he  wields  so  proudly  on  the 
well-known  statue?  (111.  197.)  The  pilgrims  saw  monuments 
of  former  triumphs  of  Rome  over  Gaul,  Spain,  Egypt,  but  now 
these  countries  obeyed  other  rulers.  They  saw  the  humbled 
figure  of  their  own  country  Germania  upon  the  Triumphal  Arch 
of  Marcus  Aurelius,  and  again,  in  the  Temple  of  Neptune,  as  a 
mourner  among  the  statues  representing  the  subdued  provinces 
(111.  1 98). 2  If  they  were  able  here  to  recognise  the  Germanic 
features,  it  must  have  been  even  easier  to  perceive  the  Northern 
stamp  on  the  faces  of  the  prisoners  and  slaves  portrayed  in 
statuary  (111.  199).  But  these  Barbarians  of  the  North  were  now 
beginning  to  impose  their  laws  on  the  Roman  world ;  what  is 
more,  they  had  already  begun  to  combine  Roman  civilisation  with 
Christianity,  and,  in  addition,  were  displaying  such  life  and  energy, 
such  determination  and  enterprise,  as  promised  well  for  a  new 
era  of  Christian  civilisation. 


1  Augustus  as  Conqueror  of  the  World,  see  the  bronze  inscription  on  the  so-called 
"  monumenium  A?icyranu»i." 

2  On  the  portrayal  of  vanquished  Germania,  cp.  Annali  dclF  Istit.,  1883,  p.  8.  Our 
Illustration  198  gives  merely  the  upper  portion  of  Germania  devicta.  Cp.  BuRCKHARDT, 
Cicerone'1,  1,  p.  137;  BAUMEISTER,  Dcnkmaler  des  klass.  Alterthums,  1,  p.  251.  On  the 
Dacian,  see  ibid. 

VOL.  III.  I 


i3o 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No. 422 


Processions,  Pagan  and  Christian,  on  the  Via  Flaminia 

422.  Formerly,  in  heathen  times,  solemn  processions  of  people 
and  priests  passed  down  the  Flaminian  Way  to  celebrate  the 
Robigalia  in  the  open  meadows  outside  the  City.  The  object 
of  these  processions  was  to  seek  the  protection  of  the  gods  for 
the  crops  to  come.  Their  date  was  April  25,  i.e.  the  same  as 
that  on  which  the  Church  celebrates  the  Feast  of  St.  Mark. 

The  procession  of  people,  clad  in  white,  passing  through 
the  Gate,  went  along  the  Flaminian  Way,  through  the  fields 
to  the  flats  near  the  Tiber.  On  the  way  it  must  have  passed 
the  heights  of  the  Monti  Parioli  on  the  right,  where  the 
Christian  cemetery  of  St.  Valentine  was  excavated  in  the  tufa 
rock  as  early  as  the  third  century.  Further,  it  crossed  the 
Milvian  Bridge  and  entered  the  Claudian  Way  on  the  farther 
side  of  the  Tiber.  Near  the  fifth  milestone  on  this  road  stood, 
venerated  by  the  heathen,  the  grove  sacred  to  Robigo,  the  god 
of  frost,  who,  just  at  this  season,  could  work  damage  to  the 
fruits  of  the  earth.  Here  the  procession  paused,  and  the 
Flamen  Quirinalis  sacrificed  to  the  Canicula  a  brown  dog  and 
a  sheep,  after  which  races  were  run  by  youths  and  boys  on 
the  fine  open  ground.1 

The  Christian  procession  on  St.  Mark's  Day  was  in  some 
sense  the  outcome  of  this  heathen  custom,  for  as  soon  as  the 
Pagan  procession  had  fallen  into  disuse,  or  perhaps  even  in  the 
time  of  its  decline,  the  ceremonial  described  was  adopted  by 
the  Roman  Bishops,  though,  of  course,  it  was  carefully  divested 
of  its  heathen  character. 

The  ecclesiastical  procession  was  held  in  honour  of  the  true 
God,  to  implore,  through  the  intercession  of  the  Saints,  His 
blessing  on  the  harvest.  The  procession  assembled  inside  the 
City,  on  the  Flaminian  Way,  at  the  church  of  St.  Lawrence 
in  Lucina,  and  then  took  the  ancient  route  described  above, 
through  the  meadows.  Thereby  the  Church  sought  to  com- 
pensate the  people  for  a  cherished  custom  of  their  ancestors, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  more  effectually  to  withstand  any  sur- 
viving remnants  of  Paganism.  Instead  of  songs  of  praise  to 
the  gods,  the  verdant  pastures  resounded  with  the  Church's 
hymns,  the  Kyrie  Eleison,  and  psalms. 

1  Becker,  Hdb.  der  rom.  Alterthiimer,  4,  449  ff. 


No.  423] 


ST.  VALENTINE'S 


The  procession  halted  at  several  points,  partly  to  rest  those 
taking  part  in  it,  partly  to  offer  solemn  prayers  at  the  appointed 
places.  The  first  stop  was  at  the  above-mentioned  Cemetery 
of  St.  Valentine,  below  the  Parioli,  where  a  Basilica  had  stood 
since  the  period  immediately  subsequent  to  Constantine.  Thence 
the  march  was  continued  as  far  as  the  Milvian  Bridge,  where 
a  second  stop  was  made.  As  soon,  however,  as  the  Tiber  was 
crossed,  the  procession,  avoiding  the  Via  Claudia,  followed  by 
its  earlier  Pagan  counterpart,  turned  first  to  the  west,  and  then 
to  the  south,  heading  for  St.  Peter's  through  the  plain  at  the 
foot  of  Monte  Mario.  A  last  halt  was  made  at  an  Oratory  of 
the  Holy  Cross  standing  on  this  road,  after  which  the  pro- 
cession entered  the  Basilica  of  St.  Peter,  where  the  Station 
was  held  on  this  day,  and  where  the  Pope  celebrated  Mass. 
It  may  be  that  this  particular  route  was  not  followed  until 
after  the  sixth  century,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  at  a  date 
not  much  later  the  procession  took  place  as  described.  As  to 
the  procession  itself,  we  shall  not  be  far  wrong  in  placing  its 
origin  in  the  fourth  century.1 


St.  Valentine's  Church  and  Cemetery  on  the  Flaminian  Way. 

Recent  Excavations 

423.  The  Basilica  of  St.  Valentine,  situated  behind  the  first 
milestone  on  the  Flaminian  Way,  near  this  martyrs'  cemetery, 
was  erected  by  Pope  Julius  in  the  fourth  century.  During  the 
first  half  of  the  seventh  century  the  church  was  restored  by 
Pope  Honorius,  and  then  reconsecrated  by  his  third  successor, 
Theodore.2 

The  church  is  especially  mentioned  in  the  itineraries  of 
that  century,  which  lay  stress  on  its  beauty  and  size.  On 
account  of  the  Saints  there  venerated,  it  stood  in  hi^h  esteem. 
"  Going  northwards  through  the  City,"  says  the  Salzburg 
Itinerary,  "thou  wilt  reach  on  the  Flaminian  Way  the  great 

1  Proust,  Die  rom.  Sacramentarien,  p.  328  ft".  The  halting-places  and  prayers  are 
given  in  the  Saeramentarium  Gregorianum  of  Muratori  {Opp.,  ed.  Arezzo,  13,  2, 
p.  618).  On  the  stop  at  St.  Valentine's,  see  MARUCCHI,  //  cimitero  e  la  basilica  di  S. 
Valentino  (1890),  p.  124.    On  the  Oratory  of  Holy  Cross,  Armellini,  C/iiese2,  p.  839. 

2  Liber  pout.,  1,  206,  Julius,  n.  50  :  "fecit  cymiteria  III.,  unutn  via  Flamminca" 
Coemeterium  here  means  a  cemetery-basilica.  Itincrarium  Salzburgense :  "  basilica 
magna,  quain  Honorius  reparavit."  In  DE  ROSSI,  Roma  soli.,  I.,  176.  Liber  pont.,  1, 
333,  Thcodorus,  n.  128.    Cp.  Marucchi,  work  mentioned  in  previous  note,  p.  113  ff. 


132 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  423 


Basilica,  restored  by  Honorius,  where  the  saintly  martyr  Valentine 
rests ;  other  martyrs,  however,  are  buried  underground  farther 
to  the  north."  In  consequence  of  the  presence  of  St.  Valentine, 
the  Flaminian  Gate  even  changed  its  name,  and  as  it  led  straight 
to  the  tomb  of  this  Saint,  it  came  to  be  called  Porta  S.  Valentini. 
This  once  much-frequented  shrine  continued  to  enjoy  high  honour 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  when  a  flourishing  monastery  grew  up  on 
the  hill  above.1 

When,  however,  during  the  thirteenth  century,  the  body  of 
the  Saint  was  translated  into  the  City  to  the  church  of  Sta. 
Prassede,  the  ancient  Basilica  became  deserted,  and  soon  fell  into 
decay,  or  was  demolished. 

Not  until  our  day  have  its  venerable  remains  again  emerged 
from  the  earth  and  from  the  oblivion  into  which  they  had  fallen. 
The  discovery  of  the  ancient  Basilica  and  of  the  Christian  cata- 
combs pertaining  to  it,  belongs  to  those  incidents  which  can 
occur  nowhere  save  in  the  Eternal  City,  to  the  surprise  and 
joy  of  those  who  love  Christian  antiquity.  The  impression  of 
such  discoveries,  with  the  finds  daily  disclosed  during  these 
excavations,  can  never  be  effaced  from  the  minds  of  those  who, 
like  the  present  writer,  were  able  to  take  part  in  them.  A 
brief  study  of  this  important  memorial  will  incidentally  acquaint 
the  reader  with  some  particulars  of  value  for  the  understanding 
of  Roman  manners. 

As  early  as  1878,  Orazio  Marucchi,  the  Roman  archaeolo- 
gist and  pupil  of  de  Rossi,  identified  the  original  sepulchral 
vault  of  St.  Valentine,  in  the  heart  of  the  hill,  amidst  portions 
of  the  catacombs  which  had  surrounded  it.  Until  then  the 
martyr's  first  burial-place  had  been  wrongly  located  in  certain 
passages  lying  higher  up  the  hill.  Ten  years  later,  in  1888, 
the  Basilica  was  at  last  discovered,  and,  moreover,  on  the  very 
spot  which  the  scholar  just  named  had  pointed  out  as  the  prob- 
able site  of  the  church.     At  that  time,  while  the  new  street, 

1  Itinerariuin  Salzburgense,  I.e.  Cp.  Epitome  in  DE  ROSSI,  ibid.:  "zuxta  viam 
Flaminecun  appiwcl  ecclesia  mirifice  ornata  S.  Valentini  martyris"  &c.  I  find  the  name 
Porta  S.  Valentini  mentioned  for  the  first  time,  though  as  already  old,  in  the  Bull  of 
Marinus  II.  to  Bishop  John  of  Sabina,  dated  in  May,  944.  Jaffe,  2,  n.  3626.  It  is 
printed  in  Sperandio,  Sabina  sagra,  Docum.  n.  6,  p.  331,  &c.  Marucchi  (p.  128)  quotes 
other  Bulls  of  955  and  962  to  the  same  effect.  According  to  him,  the  name  of  Porta  del 
Popolo  came  into  use  in  the  fourteenth  century.  "  Popolo"  here  means  the  rural  popu- 
lation which  had  settled  among  the  gardens  and  fields  of  this  district  of  the  Flaminian 
Way. 


no.  423]  ST.  VALENTINE'S  133 

the  so-called  Passeggiata  Flaminia,  was  being  laid,  the  trenches 
cut  through  the  level  in  front  of  the  hill-cemetery,  and  gradu- 
ally there  came  to  light  the  whole  interior  of  the  forgotten 
church,  with  its  foundation- walls  and  pillar- bases,  from  the  apse, 
built  into  the  hill  itself,  down  to  the  large  atrium  in  front.  A 
great  deal  of  the  space  laid  bare  had  to  be  filled  in  again,  but 
the  main  part  had  been  unearthed,  and  is  shown  upon  the 
accompanying  ground-plan  (111.  200). 1 

The  only  portion  not  uncovered  was  the  atrium  itself.  It 
formerly  linked  up  the  Flaminian  Way  with  the  church,  and, 
owing  to  the  distance  from  the  road,  must  have  been  of  unusual 
length.  Here,  it  was,  "  ad  S.  Valentinum  in  atrio,"  according 
to  our  authority,  that  the  procession  on  St.  Mark's  Day  made 
its  first  pause.  From  this  point,  too,  pilgrims  coming  from  the 
north  by  the  Flaminian  Way  usually  thronged  into  the  shrine, 
eager  to  visit  the  church  of  this  martyr,  the  first  of  the  Holy 
Places  of  Rome  lying  on  their  road.2 

While  the  excavations  were  in  progress  the  three  aisles 
were  readily  recognised,  for  they  were  divided  by  the  bases  of 
great  pillars  which  had  mostly  disappeared  (111.  200,  A).  The 
nave,  A,  T,  P,  was  about  forty  feet  wide,  but  all  its  pillars 
had  been  thrown  down.  After  a  while  there  came  to  light 
remains  of  the  earliest  marble  balustrades,  Ionic  capitals,  and 
epitaphs  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  well-preserved  portions 
of  the  original  tesselated  pavement,  sculptured  ornaments  dating 
from  the  church's  foundation  and  from  later  mediaeval  times, 
works  belonging  to  different  ages  but  all  resting  peaceably  side 
by  side  beneath  the  earth.  The  left  side  aisle  ended  in  a 
circular,  the  right  in  a  square  apse  (C  and  C1). 

In  front  of  the  apse  of  the  nave  remains  of  two  interesting 
constructions  were  visible  :  first,  there  were  traces  of  the  rectan- 
gular chancel  usually  found  in  Basilicas  (Schola  Cantoruni),  a 
raised  platform  in  the  middle  of  the  nave  (R,  T).  It  rested  on 
ancient  graves,  the  inscriptions  upon  one  of  which  dated  from  the 
time  of  Pope  Julius  I.     Between  the  choir  and  the  apse  a  long 

1  Marucchi,  //  cimitero  di  S.  Valentino,  PI.  4  ;  Kraus,  Gesch.  der  christl.  Kunst,  1, 
p.  316. 

a  De  Rossi,  when  speaking  of  St.  Valentine  and  St.  Zeno  on  occasion  of  the  chapel 
of  Zeno  in  Sta.  Prassede,  quotes  from  an  Arezzo  Codex  the  prayer  used  in  the  pro- 
cession of  St.  Mark,  which  according  to  the  rubric  was  pronounced  "  ad  S.  Valentinum 
in  atrio"  and  which  also  contains  the  words  :  "  interccdente  beato  Zenone.'" 


!34 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  424 


passage,  once  roofed  over,  and  crossing  the  whole  church,  was 
found  at  a  lower  level  (H).  This  was  accessible  from  the  right 
and  left  aisles  by  steps  (G  and  K).  This  passage  allowed  of 
visitors  approaching  the  substructure  of  the  high  altar  (M),  and  had 
evidently,  at  one  time,  been  lighted  by  lamps  of  which  the  niches 
were  seen  in  the  wall.  It  thus  formed  a  species  of  transversal 
crypt,  and  is  indeed  one  of  the  oldest  in  Rome.  The  passage  had 
been  constructed  to  enable  visitors  to  draw  nigh  to  the  body  of 
the  martyr,  for  St.  Valentine  and  his  sarcophagus  must  have 
rested  in  the  recess  at  the  foot  of  the  altar,  and,  no  doubt, 
worshippers  could  both  see  and  touch  the  tomb  through  a 
fenestella.1 

424.  If,  as  it  is  probable,  the  martyr's  remains  were  removed 
here  under  Pope  Honorius  from  his  earlier  tomb  in  the  neigh- 
bouring hill,  then  the  construction  of  this  remarkable  passage 
may  also  belong  to  the  time  of  Honorius.  The  original  burial- 
place  in  the  hill  proved  too  small  and  inconvenient  for  public 
worship.  It  was  certainly  this  reason,  and  the  wish  to  provide 
the  neighbouring  population  with  a  place  of  worship,  that  led 
Julius  I.  to  found  the  vast  Basilica.  Even  afterwards  reverence 
still  induced  people  to  mount  to  the  tomb  and  the  Catacombs  in 
the  rock,  and  we  may  still  see  the  flight  of  steps  leading  thereto. 
In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  catacombs  there  stood  also  several 
heathen  tombs.2 

The  Christian  burying-places,  kept  distinct  from  the  heathen, 
were  in  two  groups.  The  more  recent  were  inside  and  near  the 
Basilica  ;  the  earlier,  on  the  contrary,  were  near  the  martyr's  tomb 
in  the  Catacombs.  Even  before  Constantine  five  straight  galleries 
had  been  excavated  from  the  soft  rock  near  where  St.  Valentine 
rested,  and  made  into  a  cemetery.  It  was  not  until  after  Constan- 
tine, or  indeed  until  after  Pope  Julius  I.,  that  Christians  began  to 
bury  their  dead  in  the  Basilica,  and  later  outside  its  walls  and  in 
the  long  fore-court.  The  burials  in  the  latter  place  continued,  so 
far  as  can  be  judged  by  the  inscriptions,  down  to  the  sixth  century, 

1  See  reports  of  the  excavations  by  Marucchi,  Bull.  arch,  com.,  1888,  p.  240  ff.  and 
p.  429  ff.,  PI.  XIX.  The  latter  is  reproduced  in  his  special  work  with  some  additions. 
Cp.  Marucchi,  Rom.  Quartalschrift,  3  (1889),  15  ff,  114  ff,  305  ff 

8  The  existence  of  these  tombs  explains  why  the  Basilica  was  not  erected  in  front  of 
the  martyr's  tomb,  but  at  the  side  ;  the  pagan  burial-places  had  to  be  respected.  Nor 
was  it  possible  to  build  directly  above  the  tomb,  the  hill  being  too  steep  and  too  high, 
and  no  space  being  left  vacant. 


111.  200.— Portion  excavated  of  the  Cemetery-Basilica  of 
St.  Valentine  on  the  Via  Flaminia. 


no. 424]  ST.  VALENTINE'S  135 

i.e.  until  it  had  become  customary  to  bury  the  dead  within  the 
City. 

The  Cemetery  and  Basilica  of  St.  Valentine  seem  to  have  been 
subordinate  to  the  titular  church  of  St.  Lawrence  in  Lucina,  a 
dependence  which  would  agree  with  the  habit  of  putting  ceme- 
teries outside  the  City  under  the  protection  of  the  titular  churches 
standing  nearest  to  them  within  the  walls.  Among  the  numerous 
epitaphs  found  on  this  spot  during  the  excavations  was  one  belong- 
ing to  a  presbyter  of  the  "  title  of  Lucina."  1 

The  Christian  epitaphs  found  in  the  ground  cut  through  for 
the  new  street  amounted  to  about  two  hundred.  The  number 
would  certainly  be  far  greater  had  it  been  possible  to  reach  those 
of  the  atrium.  Examining  the  newly-gained  epitaphs,  together 
with  the  inscriptions  still  extant  in  the  catacombs  of  St.  Valentine, 
we  find  them  to  contain  the  usual  touching  profession  of  faith  in 
a  life  to  come,  with  an  expression  of  fraternal  sympathy  with  the 
deceased,  and  wishes  for  their  repose  beyond  the  grave.  These 
stones  bear  striking  witness  to  the  belief  in  the  intercession  of  the 
Church  militant  and  of  the  saints  in  heaven.2 

Another  point  of  importance  vouched  for  by  these  epitaphs 
is  the  worship  of  the  saints,  especially  of  St.  Valentine.  For 
instance,  one  of  the  tablets  beseeches  the  Saint  {Domnits  Valen- 
tinus)  to  "refresh"  the  deceased,  i.e.  to  intercede  for  his  repose 
in  the  next  world.  Another  inscription  says  :  "  May  the  glory  of 
St.  Valentine  be  granted  thee."  Pope  Damasus,  who  did  so  much 
for  the  Catacombs,  also  placed  an  epitaph  in  honour  of  the  martyr, 
though  only  a  fragment  remains  of  it.3 

These  inscriptions  are  often  of  importance  on  account  of  the 
historical  information  they  convey.  Thus  one  belonging  to  the 
fourth  century  contains  the  name  of  a  certain  Maximus,  Prae- 
positus  of  the  Flaminian  Way.  The  Praepositus  was  a  high 
secular  officer  who,  in  consequence  of  the  reforms  introduced 
into  officialdom  under  Diocletian  and  Constantine,  took  the  place 
of  the  older praefectus  vehiculorum  of  the  Flaminian  Way.  This 

1  MARUCCHI,  Rom.  Quartalschrift,  4  (1890),  152. 

8  For  inscriptions  from  these  Catacombs,  see  MARUCCHI,  Cimitero  e  basilica  di  S. 
Valentino,  p.  70  ff".  ;  for  those  from  the  cemetery  above  ground,  ibid.,  p.  76  ff. 

3  ".  .  .  Refrigerei  tibi  Valentinus"  just  as  we  find  near  other  tombs  of  the  Saints  : 
"  Refrigerei  tibi  domnits  Ippolitus"  or  " Refrigeret  lantiarius,  Felicissimus,  Agapitus" 
"  Addetur  et  tibi  Valentini  gl[oria  s\ancii."  Cp.  MARUCCHI,  Bull.  arch,  com.,  1888, 
p.  436,  n.  56.  For  the  Damasian  fragment,  see  MARUCCHI,  Rom.  Quartalschrift,  2 
(1888),  290,  and  in  his  special  work,  p.  120  ft". 


i36 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  424 


road,  on  account  of  its  importance  for  both  war  and  trade,  had 
always  had  a  special  traffic  superintendent.  The  praepositi 
cursuales  formed  a  special  corporation  {militia),  and  were  there- 
fore, on  State  occasions,  allowed  to  wear  the  mantle  {chlamys) 
fastened  with  the  fibula  upon  the  shoulder.  Strange  to  say,  a 
gold  fibula  was  found  near  the  inscription  of  Maximus,  and  also 
a  gold  reliquary  or  phylacterium,  such  as  noblemen  were  wont  to 
wear  on  their  breast.1 

Though  the  main  part  of  the  excavated  church  has  been  pre- 
served for  the  future  as  a  precious  memorial  of  the  early  days  of 
the  Church's  triumph,  the  Catacombs  are  disappointing  on  account 
of  the  dilapidation  they  have  undergone.  The  owners  (viz.  the 
Hermits  of  St.  Augustine  at  the  Porta  del  Popolo)  of  a  vine- 
yard situated  above  the  Catacombs,  at  a  time  when  unhappily  no 
reverence  existed  for  such  venerable  spots,  established  their 
wine-cellars  in  the  cemetery,  and  demolished  almost  all  the  early 
Christian  tokens,  and  even  the  venerable  pictures.2 

About  the  tomb  of  this  martyr  pious  tradition  at  an  early  date 
spun  its  customary  legends.  The  story  of  Valentine's  life  and 
martyrdom  has  come  to  us  in  a  very  distorted  version.  The 
so-called  acts  of  this  martyr  form  a  portion  of  those  of  the  Persian 
martyrs — Marius,  Martha,  Audifax,  and  Abacum.  "  The  whole 
is,  however,  so  barbarous  and  disjointed  that  without  a  doubt  it 
must  date  from  a  much  later  period,  and  belong  to  the  sixth 
or  seventh  century,  i.e.  to  a  time  when  it  was  the  rule  to  cast 
the  stories  of  the  martyrs  into  a  legendary  form,  and  to  put 
together  tales  in  which  the  same  miraculous  incidents  constantly 
reappear."  3 

This  much  seems  certain,  viz.  that  St.  Valentine  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom under  the  Emperor  Claudius  II.  (Goticus).  Scarcely  any 
more  do  we  know  of  the  martyr  St.  Zeno,  who,  as  St.  Valentine's 

1  This  Christian  epitaph  of  Maximus,  the  " pracpositus  de  via  flabinia"  was  found  on 
the  reverse  of  a  Pagan  epitaph.  It  was  not  known  before  that  such  an  office  existed  for 
the  Flaminian  Way.  See  MARUCCHI,  Rom.  Quartalschrift,  4  (1890),  152,  and  DE  ROSSI, 
Del  pracpositus  di  via  flaminia  (Bull,  arch  cow.,  1888,  p.  257  ff.),  who  points  out  that  the 
position  of  this  pracpositus  must  have  been  entirely  different  from  the  ecclesiastical  office 
of  the  pracpositus  basilicae  S.  Valcntini.  An  epitaph  of  the  year  404  is  also  interesting  ; 
it  belongs  to  a  certain  Jovianus  "  nutritor  ct  papas  trium  frairum."  Marucchi,  Cimitero, 
&c,  p.  85.  "Papas"  is  the  title  which  ultimately  was  reserved  to  the  Popes  alone,  to 
distinguish  their  fatherly  dignity. 

2  MARUCCHI,  Cimitero,  &c,  p.  43  ff.  Cp.  p.  67  :  "gli  ambulacri  barbaramente 
tagliati,"  &c. 

3  Marucchi,  Rom.  Quartalschrift,  3  (1889),  17.  See  the  Acts,  in  Acta  SS.,  II., 
Febr.  p.  753. 


No.  425] 


CEMETERIES 


r37 


companion  in  death,  was  venerated  with  him  at  the  place  we  have 
just  described,  and  whose  name  was  found  on  a  marble  tablet 
inside  the  Basilica.  St.  Zeno  and  St.  Valentine  were  invoked  in 
the  ancient  litany  sung  in  the  procession  to  this  place  on  St. 
Mark's  Day.1 

Christian  Cemeteries  Outside  the  Walls 

425.  The  Christian  Catacombs,  which,  from  the  first  had  been 
so  dear  both  to  the  people  of  Rome  and  to  pilgrims,  during  the 
long-drawn  Gothic  wars  were  exposed  to  great  danger.  Not 
only  had  they  to  suffer  at  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  thus  calling 
for  the  frequent  restorations  of  which  we  have  already  seen 
instances  in  the  history  of  Pope  Vigilius,  but  also,  owing  to  the 
insecurity  of  the  country  about  Rome,  the  faithful  were  little  by 
little  obliged  to  cease  visiting  them. 

As  already  noticed,  no  interments  took  place  in  the  Cata- 
combs after  the  time  of  Alaric's  sie^e  of  Rome.  Christian 
Rome  then  began  to  bury  her  dead  in  graveyards  situated 
near  or  above  the  Catacombs,  where  churches,  great  and 
small,  were  erected  after  the  pattern  of  St.  Valentine's  Basilica. 
The  cemeteries  were  resorted  to  partly  to  offer  prayers  for 
the  faithful  departed,  partly  to  do  honour  to  the  martyrs 
there  reposing.  Many  bodies  of  martyrs,  buried  at  an  incon- 
venient depth,  were  about  this  time  brought  up  to  the  surface 
and  placed  in  oratories  and  churches  standing  above  their 
tombs. 

Owing  to  the  misfortunes  of  the  age,  in  the  sixth  century  the 
custom  already  alluded  to  grew  up  in  Rome  of  burying  the  dead 
within  the  City  walls,  an  innovation  contrary  to  ancient  Roman 
practice  and  law.  In  consequence,  cemeteries  outside  the  walls 
began  to  fall  into  disuse,  another  fact  which  explains  why  the 
Christians  ceased  to  visit  them.  By  the  populace  the  Catacombs 
were  usually  called  "  cemeteries  of  the  martyrs,"  though  by  far  the 
majority  of  those  buried  in  them  were  ordinary  Christians,  the 
martyrs  being  the  exception.      The  underground  burial-places, 

1  For  the  date  of  Valentine's  death,  DE  Rossi,  Roma  sott.,  III.,  212.  Allard,  Hist, 
des persecutions,  3,  196  ff.  For  the  inscription  of  Zeno,  probably  belonging  to  the  tenth 
century,  see  Marucchi,  Cimitero,  p.  125. 


138  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no. 426 

once  so  well  attended,  even  stood  in  danger  of  being  deprived  of 
the  liturgical  ministrations  of  the  clergy.1 

It  was  Pope  John  III.  (561-574),  that  noble  Roman,  who 
took  steps  to  insure  that  these  venerable  cemeteries  should  retain 
their  position  amidst  the  places  of  worship  of  the  City.  The 
Liber  pontificalis  begins  the  sketch  of  his  life  with  the  brief 
but  significant  words:  "He  cherished  and  restored  the  ceme- 
teries of  the  holy  martyrs.  He  enacted  that  the  Lateran  should, 
each  Sunday,  supply  the  cemeteries  with  the  oblation,  the  wine, 
and  the  lights."  This  seemingly  unimportant  regulation  of  Pope 
John,  as  de  Rossi  says,  really  marks  an  epoch  in  the  history 
of  the  cemeteries  of  Rome.2 

Pope  John's  enactment  was  observed  for  more  than  two  cen- 
turies, during  which  it  was  the  rule  to  celebrate  a  Sunday  Mass  in 
each  of  the  churches  erected  over  cemeteries.  The  priest  was  sent 
from  the  titular  church  to  which  the  cemetery  was  subordinate, 
and  the  necessary  materials  were  supplied  by  the  Lateran,  the 
head  of  all  the  titular  churches  of  Rome.  The  arcarius  and  the 
vestararius  of  the  Pope,  had  to  see  that  all  was  carried  out  aright. 

Thereby,  not  only  was  service  in  the  Catacombs  prevented 
from  dying  out,  but,  at  the  same  time,  the  rural  population  in  the 
neighbourhood  was  afforded  the  opportunity  of  attending  the 
liturgy  on  Sundays.  In  the  previous  wars,  no  doubt,  observ- 
ance of  such  duties  had  slackened.  At  the  time  of  Pope  Gregory 
I.  (590-604),  for  instance,  we  learn  that  each  Sunday  a  priest 
had  to  celebrate  Mass  in  the  church  on  the  hill  above  the  cemetery 
of  St.  Pancras  on  the  Aurelian  Way,  and  we  shall  not  be  far 
wrong  in  supposing  that  the  priest  belonged  to  a  neighbouring 
title-church,  situated  below  the  hill  near  the  Gate,  i.e.  to  S. 
Crisigono,  Sta.  Cecilia,  or  Sta.  Maria  in  Trastevere.3 

426.  It  was  in  the  nature  of  things  that  the  service  of  the 
Catacombs  and  their  supervision  were,  from  the  earliest  times,  so 

1  The  designation  of  " coemcteria  sanctorum  martyrum"  which  became  more  and 
more  customary  (see  next  note),  certainly  contributed  to  the  idea  prevalent  in 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  that  the  Catacombs  were  full  of  bodies  of 
martyrs. 

2  Liber  pont.,  I,  305,  Ioliannes  III.,  n.  110:  "  Hie  amavit  et  restauravit  cymiteria 
sanctorum  martyrum.  Hie  instituit  ut  oblationem  et  amula  vel  luminaria  in  easdem 
cymiteria  per  omnes  dominicas  de  Lateranis  ministraretur."  Ed.  MOMMSEN,  p.  157.  De 
Rossi,  Roma  sott,  I.,  218  ft".;  III.,  515  ff. 

3  Gregor.,  Registr.,  4,  n.  18 ;  Jaffk,  n.  1290.  According  to  this  letter,  the  presbyter 
failed  to  attend  to  his  duty,  and  Gregory  had  to  make  other  arrangements. 


No.  426] 


CEMETERIES 


J39 


distributed  among  the  Roman  77/?/// that  each  catacomb  depended 
on  the  nearest  titular  church.  From  the  first,  each  parish  estab- 
lished its  cemetery  as  near  as  possible,  i.e.  outside  the  nearest 
City  gate.  The  care  and  direction  of  these  cemeteries  naturally 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  respective  titular  priests.  That, 
among  all  the  Catacombs,  one,  and  this  the  most  important  of 
all,  belonged  to  the  whole  Christian  community  as  a  body  can 
easily  be  explained.  This  was  the  Catacomb  of  Callistus,  where 
the  Popes  were  buried  during  the  third  century.  This  catacomb 
stood  under  the  Pope's  own  clergy,  and  was  managed  by  the 
"Archdeacon  of  the  Apostolic  See." 

The  service  of  the  titular  clergy  in  the  cemetery-churches 
assumed  greater  proportions  in  the  three  most  important  Basilicas 
lying  beyond  the  walls,  i.e.  in  St.  Peter's,  St.  Paul's,  and 
St.  Lawrence's,  all  three  of  which  were  cemetery  Basilicas, 
which,  however,  on  account  of  the  influx  of  Roman  Christians 
and  of  foreign  pilgrims,  required  to  be  placed  on  a  special 
footing. 

Hence,  as  early  as  Pope  Simplicius,  services  throughout  the 
week  were  introduced  in  these  three  Basilicas,  and  were  carried 
out  by  duly  appointed  Tituli,  the  titular  priests  being  aided, 
especially  in  the  choral  services,  by  monks  from  the  monasteries  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  these  Basilicas.  After  Pope  Simplicius, 
at  St.  Peter's  there  were  priests  in  weekly  residence  from  the 
Tituli  of  the  sixth  and  seventh  ecclesiastical  Regions  ;  at  St. 
Paul's  others  from  the  first  Region,  and  at  St.  Lawrence's  priests 
from  the  third  Region.  Though  the  limits  of  these  ecclesias- 
tical Regions  are  little  known,  owing  to  want  of  authoritative 
information,  it  is  certain  that  the  Regions  just  enumerated  lay 
quite  close  to  the  three  great  Basilicas  assigned  to  them.  Hence 
we  find  here  at  these  cemetery  Basilicas  the  same  system  initiated 
by  John  HI.,  by  which  each  cemetery  outside  the  walls  was 
looked  after  by  the  title-church  nearest  to  it.1 

What  is  rather  remarkable  is  that  this  system  was  retained 
till  late  in  the  Middle  Ages,  in  spite  of  all  the  changes  which 
occurred. 

We  see  this  from  what  Peter  Mallius  says.    In  the  twelfth 

1  Liber  pout.,  1,  249,  Simplicius,  n.  72  :  "  Hie  constituit  ad  sanctum  Petrum  apostolum 
et  ad  sanctum  Paulum  appstolum  ct  ad  sanctum  Laurentium  martyrem  ebdomadas,  ut 
presbyteri  manercnt,  propter  penitentes  et  baptismum :  regio  III  ad  sanctum  Lauren- 
tium" &c. 


1 40 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  426 


century  he  mentions  the  seven  Cardinal-priests  who  had  in  turn 
to  perform  the  services  of  the  week  day  by  day  in  the  three 
Basilicas,  St.  Peter's,  St.  Paul's,  and  St.  Lawrence's.  These 
"  Cardinal-priests  "  are  really  the  ancient  titular  priests,  to  whom, 
by  his  time,  the  name  of  "Cardinals"  had  come  to  be  applied. 
Among  the  seven  Cardinals  officiating  at  St.  Peter's,  according  to 
his  list,  no  fewer  than  five  still  belonged  to  Tituli  in  the  sixth  and 
seventh  Regions,  i.e.  to  the  very  Regions  appointed  for  this  by 
Pope  Simplicius.  Among  those  of  St.  Paul's  there  were  certainly 
four,  and  possibly  five,  from  the  first  Region  as  appointed  by  Sim- 
plicius. Only  at  St.  Lawrence's  had  there  been  any  great  altera- 
tion, and  for  this  we  can  readily  give  a  reason.  A  similar  weekly 
duty  by  titular  priests  or  Cardinals  had  been  also  introduced  at 
the  Basilica  of  Sta.  Maria  Maggiore,  which  stood  quite  near  the 
Gate  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  consequence  was  that  several 
titular  churches,  which  had  hitherto  supplied  at  St.  Lawrence's, 
were  brought  into  the  service  of  the  more  distinguished  church 
of  Sta.  Maria  Maggiore.  This  explains  the  change  in  the  clergy 
officiating  at  the  former  church.1 

The  service  in  these  important  churches  continued  to  be 
provided  for  exactly  in  accordance  with  the  practice  which  had 
prevailed  with  respect  to  the  earliest  cemeteries,  and  it  was  only 
the  prolonged  sojourn  of  the  Popes  at  Avignon  which  made  an 
end  of  this  ancient  custom,  as  it  did  of  so  many  other  traditional 
usages  of  the  Christian  Capital.2 

The  arrangement  made  by  John  III.,  after  the  Gothic  Wars, 
for  the  orderly  celebration  of  the  Holy  Sacrifice  in  the  Catacombs 
must  accordingly  be  considered  as  a  simple  evolution  of  what  had 
gone  before,  as  a  step  by  which  worship  in  the  Catacombs  again 
became  what  it  had  been  formerly,  viz.  an  integral  part  of  the  life 
of  the  Roman  Church.  His  measure  was  for  a  long  while  effec- 
tual in  protecting  from  negligence  and  decay  those  subterranean 
shrines,  which  are  so  full  of  interest  for  Christians,  whether 
Romans  or  pilgrims  to  Rome,  though  ultimately  they  too  had 
to  undergo  the  common  fate. 

1  Petrus  Mallius,  Acta  SS.,  t.  7  Iunii,p.  46*,  n.  134.  Cp.  Duchesne,  Liber pont., 
r,  250,  note  5.  The  five  cardinals  of  St.  Peter's  were  those  of  the  Titles  of  S.  Maria 
Transtiberim,  S.  Chrysogonus,  S.  Csecilia  (of  the  seventh  Region),  S.  Laurentius  in 
Damaso  and  S.  Marcus  (both  Tituli  of  the  sixth  Region).  The  four  cardinals  of  St. 
Paul's  were  those  of  the  Titles  of  the  first  ecclesiastical  Region,  viz. :  S.  Sabina,  S.  Prisca, 
S.  Balbina,  SS.  Nereus  and  Achilleus.  and  in  addition  S.  Xystus. 

2  De  Rossi,  Roma  soft.,  III.,  528  ff. 


111.  201. — Pope  Xystus  II.  and  Bishop  Optatus. 


(Picture  in  the  Catacomb  of  Callistus,  from  the  time  of  John  III.) 


No.  428] 


CEMETERIES 


141 


427.  John  III.,  "who  cherished  and  restored  the  cemeteries," 
also  deserves  well  for  his  embellishment  of  them.  The  still  exist- 
ing portraits  of  two  martyred  Popes  and  two  African  Saints  on  the 
walls  of  the  Crypt  of  St.  Cornelius,  in  the  Catacomb  of  Callistus, 
belong  to  his  period.  Upon  one  fresco  we  see  the  grave  and 
dignified  figures  of  Pope  Xystus  II.  and  Bishop  Optatus  (111.  201), 1 
and  upon  the  other  those  of  Pope  Cornelius  and  Bishop  Cyprian. 
Upon  the  former  we  read  the  words  of  Psalm  lviii.,  which  sound 
like  a  hymn  of  thanksgiving  for  help  received  during  the  trials 
which  John  III.  and  his  time  had  experienced  :  "  But  I  will  sing 
thy  strength  and  will  extol  thy  mercy  in  the  morning  :  for  thou 
art  become  my  support  and  my  refuge  in  the  day  of  my  trouble." 
The  four  figures,  all  dressed  exactly  alike,  wear  the  same 
costume  as  Senators  were  wont  at  that  time  to  wear  in  everyday 
life,  and  when  not  actually  engaged  in  public  functions.  We  can 
distinguish  their  sleeved  tunics,  with  the  dalmatic  over  it  and  the 
pcrnula  or  planet.  But  the  most  striking  vestment  is  the  broad 
white  stripe  of  the  woollen  pallium  with  its  black  cross  ;  this  is 
passed  round  the  neck  and  looped,  so  that  one  end  hangs  down  in 
front  and  the  other  behind.  Their  figures  all  display  the  great 
tonsure,  and  in  their  arms  they  hold  the  Book  of  the  Gospels  set 
with  precious  stones.2 

It  may  be  that  the  whole  restoration  of  this  crypt  was  due  to 
Pope  John  III.  Our  illustration  202  :i  shows  it  in  the  state  in 
which  de  Rossi  discovered  it  in  1852,  and  among  other  things 
includes  the  column  stump  which  formerly  supported  the  altar- 
table,  or  upon  which  the  lights  before  the  Saint's  tomb  floated  in 
a  vessel  of  oil. 

The  Catacomb  of  Praetextatus 

428.  John  III.  seems  to  have  lavished  special  care  on  the 
Catacomb  of  Praetextatus.    When,  during  the  regency  of  Narses, 

1  WlLPERT,  Katakoinben^cmiildc,  PI.  256,  and  Un  capitolo  di  storia  del  vestiario,  in 
L  Arte,  1898,  p.  105.  The  saints  depicted  are  described  as  follows  :  SCS  SVSTVS  PP 
ROM.  SCS  OPTAT.  EP.  On  the  pallium  worn  by  both  Bishops,  see  present  work, 
vol.  ii.  p.  295,  note  I.    Wilpert  believes  the  painting  to  belong  to  the  time  of  John  III. 

2  According  to  Wilpert,  the  inscription  on  the  fresco  runs  :  t  EGO  AV[TEM] 
CANTABO  BIRTVTEM  TVAM  ET  EXALTABO  MANE  MISERICORD  I  AM 
TVAM  QV[I]A  FACTVS  SET  (for  est)  SVSCEPTRO  (for  susceptor)  MEVS  ET 
REF[V]G[IVM]  MEVM  I[N]  DI[E  TRIBVLATIONIS  MEAE]. 

3  De  Rossi,  Roma  soft.,  I.,  PI.  5.  The  epitaph  of  Cornelius  (shown  in  vol.  i.,  III.  72) 
is  seen  on  111.  202,  just  beyond  the  column  stump. 


142  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  428 

new  troubles  arose  through  a  quarrel  between  the  City  and  its 
Governor,  John  withdrew  for  safety  to  the  Cemetery  of  Praetex- 
tatus.  "  He  dwelt  there,"  so  the  Liber  pontificalis  informs  us, 
"  for  a  long  while,  and  even  consecrated  Bishops  in  it."  1 

Naturally  we  need  not  imagine  him  living  underground,  for  a 
cemetery  also  included  all  the  buildings  above  the  corresponding 
Catacombs,  and  these  sometimes  comprised  dwellings  of  consider- 
able number  and  size  besides  churches  and  oratories.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  over  the  Catacomb  of  Praetextatus  there  still  exist  many 
remains  of  church-buildings  belonging  to  a  period  subsequent  to 
Constantine,  and  perhaps  to  the  sixth  century,  among  them  a 
ruined  hall  with  high  vaulted  niches,  which  must  have  been  in 
the  shape  of  a  Greek  cross,  and  which  consequently  resembled  in 
plan  the  church  in  Rome  which  John  III.  had  dedicated  to  the 
Apostles. 

Besides,  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  Christian 
Catacombs,  there  were  also  some  ancient  villas,  which  might  have 
afforded  shelter  to  the  fugitive  Pope. 

The  Catacomb  of  Praetextatus  and  its  grand  surroundings 
are  in  some  measure  calculated  to  supply  our  fancy  with  a  picture 
of  the  former  state  of  things  in  a  place  which  was  at  one  and  the 
same  time  a  favourite  shrine  and  a  centre  of  classicism.  Both 
influences  strike  the  memory,  and  even  the  eyes  of  a  modern 
visitor,  early  Christianity  and  its  worship,  and  the  lavish  pomp  of 
Pagan  times,  for  there  are  but  few  sites  where  the  monumental 
and  spiritual  contrasts  of  Rome  are  as  sharply  opposed  as  here. 
Lono-  before  the  mansions  and  fine  gardens  of  this  district  had 
begun  to  fall  into  ruin — indeed,  while  they  were  still  in  the  fulness 
of  their  pride — the  honoured  martyrs  of  the  New  Religion  were 
already  resting  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  in  the  underground 
cemeteries  excavated  by  the  Christians  almost  under  the  very 
villas  themselves  ;  their  religion  had  already  received  the  .call  to 
take  over  the  inheritance  of  the  former  masters  and  to  continue 
their  glorious  tradition,  though  in  a  new  and  higher  sense. 

The  Saints  in  the  Catacomb  of  Praetextatus  slept  in  one  of  the 
finest  and  most  memorable  spots  in  the  vicinity  of  Rome. 

1  Liber  pon/.,  I,  305,  n.  110:  "  Tunc  sanctissimus  papa  retenuit  se  in  cymiterio  SS. 
Tiburtii  et  Valeriani  ct  habitavit  ibi  multum  /ctnporis,  ut  etiam  episeppos  ibidem  conse- 
craret"  &c.  These  two  saints  had  a  small  church  above  the  Catacomb  of  Praetextatus, 
which  is  mentioned  in  the  Itineraries  of  the  seventh  century.  De  ROSSI,  Roma  so//.,  I., 
180,  181.    On  the  site  of  the  Catacomb,  cp.  DE  Rossi,  Bull.  arch,  cris/.,  1872,  p.  47  ff. 


111.  202. — Crypt  of  St.  Cornelius  in  the  Catacomb 
of  Callistus. 


no.  428]       CATACOMB  OF  PRETEXT ATUS 


The  Cemetery  lies  to  the  east  of  the  Appian  Way.  Any 
one  strolling  from  the  Basilica  of  S.  Sebastiano  on  this  road, 
towards  the  church  of  S.  Urbano,  will  have  it  on  his  left.  He 
will  see  the  horizon  bounded  by  the  smiling  Alban  heights  ;  to 
the  right  stands  the  majestic  heathen  circular  Mausoleum  of 
Csecilia  Metella  ;  in  the  hollow  stretches  the  Circus  of  Maxentius 
with  its  endless  encircling  walls  ;  quite  close  rises  the  beautifully 


111  203. — The  so-called  Temple  of  Deus  Rediculus  on  the  Via  Appia. 
Specimen  of  a  heathen  mausoleum.    From  an  old  engraving  by  Parboni. 


constructed  heroon  of  his  son  Romulus,  making  a  fine  fore- 
ground to  the  scene. 

The  church  of  S.  Urbano  itself,  which  looks  down  from  the 
opposite  hill  on  the  peaceful  cemetery,  is  an  ancient  pre-Christian 
building.  It  formed  part  of  the  extensive  estate  of  Herod 
Atticus,  and  was  the  temple,  or  perhaps  the  mausoleum,  of 
Herod's  wife,  Annia  Regilla. 

H erodes  Atticus  was  one  of  the  tutors  of  Marcus  Aurelius  and 
Lucius  Verus.  The  country  house  he  laid  out  upon  this  property 
was  connected  with  the  Pagus  Triopius,  a  farm  settlement.  The 


144  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  429 


fine  buildings  of  the  villa  stood  nearer  to  the  right  and  were 
bounded  by  the  Via  Appia.  A  superb  row  of  cipollino  pillars 
here  formed  a  sort  of  hedge.  More  to  the  left,  nearer  Rome  and 
the  lovely  little  vale  of  Caffarella,  lay  the  centre  of  the  underground 
Christian  burial-places.  The  sleepy  rivulet  flowing  through  the 
valley  was  given  the  name  of  Almo,  and  a  well-preserved  ancient 
cave  is  known  as  the  cave  of  the  nymph  Egeria.  Upon  the 
hiil   picturesquely  crowned   with    evergreen   oaks,  opposite  S. 


111.  204. — Fresco  in  the  Catacomb  of  Pr^textatus.    The  Seasons. 


Urbano,  the  eye  of  the  people  sees  a  "  sacred  grove  "  (Bosco 
Sacro),  while  the  brick  mausoleum  (111.  203)  lying  to  the  north 
adopted  the  high-sounding  name  of  Temple  of  Deus  Rediculus. 
Although  all  these  titles  may  be  historically  untenable,  they 
help  to  grace  a  spot  owing  its  charms  as  much  to  its  monuments 
and  memories  as  to  its  natural  beauty. 

429.  There  is  also  no  certainty  as  to  how  this  cemetery  took 
the  name  of  Prsetextatus,  or  who  this  person  was. 

The  first  saint  buried  in  this  .Catacomb  would  seem  to  have 


no.  429]       CATACOMB  OF  PR^TEXTATUS  145 


been  the  Tribune  Ouirinus,  who  suffered  martyrdom  with  his 
daughter  Balbina.  His  death  is  dated  in  the  reign  of  Hadrian. 
Some  thirty  years  later,  the  Martyr  Januarius,  one  of  the  sons  of 
the  holy  matron  St.  Felicitas,  also  found  a  resting-place  here. 
The  tomb  of  Januarius,  of  which  the  large  epitaph  placed  there 
by  Damasus  was  found  by  de  Rossi  (vol.  i.,  111.  79),  strikes  the 
modern  visitor  as  the  most  important  in  this  Catacomb,  and  its 
crypt  is  especially  interesting  on  account  of  its  mural  paintings 
(111.  204). 1  In  this  same  cemetery,  later  on,  the  martyrs  Valerian, 
Tiburtius,  Maximus,  and  Bishop  (Pope  ?)  Urban,  to  whom  the 
church  just  mentioned  was  dedicated,  all  known  through  the  story 
of  St.  Caecilia's  martyrdom,  were  also  buried,  as  well  as  several 
other  victims  of  the  same  persecution. 

Here,  too,  under  the  Emperor  Valerian,  took  place  the  arrest 
of  Pope  Xystus  II.,  who  was  seized  while  celebrating  the  Liturgy, 
and  then  done  to  death  on  his  stone  cathedra  in  the  Catacomb  of 
Callistus.  His  deacons  Felicissimus  and  Agapetus,  as  well  as 
some  of  the  lower  clergy  who  were  martyred  at  the  same  time, 
were  also  buried  in  these  calleries.  The  tomb  of  these  two 
deacons,  with  its  porphyry  pillars  and  marble  balustrades,  and  of 
which  the  inscription  by  Damasus  is  well  known,  has  been 
reconstructed  as  it  was  (111.  205). 2  Round  about  these  saints 
innumerable  Christians  had  their  burial-places  in  the  galleries  of 
the  cemetery. 

Such  was  the  Catacomb  which  Pope  John  III.  doubtless  did 
his  best  to  preserve,  and  above  which  he  sought  refuge  when 
driven  from  the  Lateran. 

1  Our  111.  204  is  from  Garrucci,  Arte  crist.,  PI.  37,  No.  1.  Cp.  de  Rossi,  Bull, 
arch,  crist.,  1863,  p.  4  ;  Kraus,  Gesch.  der  christl.  Kunst,  1,  p.  205  ff.  ;  and  the  photo  in 
WlLPERT,  Katakombengeindlde,  PI.  31,  No.  2. 

2  On  111.  205,  see  Rod.  von  Kanzler,  Restituzione  architettonica  delta  cripta  del 
SS.  Felicissimo  ed  Agapito  (Nuovo  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1,  1S95),  p.  172  ff.,  PI.  9  f.  The 
pillars  and  marble  balustrades  still  exist,  and  all  the  decorations  are  retained  in  frag- 
ments. The  inscription  has  been  preserved  in  old  copies  (de  ROSSI,  Inscr.  christ., 
2,  1,  p.  66)  :— 

"  Aspice  el  hie  tumulus  rctinet  celestia  membra 
Sanctorum,  subito  rapuit  quos  regia  celi. 
Hi  crucis  invicte  co mites paritcrque  mim'siri, 
Rectoris  sancti  meritumquc  fidemque  secuti, 
Etherias  petiere  domus  regnaque  piorum. 
Unica  in  his  gaudet  romane  gloria  plebis, 
Quod  duce  tunc  Christo  Christi  tneruere  triumphos. 
Felicissimo  et  Agapito  Damasus." 


VOL.  III. 


K 


146 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  430 


The  Earliest  Churchyards  within  the  City 

430.  Returning  now  to  the  City,  we  seek  the  earliest  Christian 
Churchyards.  We  shall  find  that  they  do  not  date  much  further 
back  than  the  time  of  John  III.,  and  in  a  general  way  we  may  say 
that  intra-mural  burial  was  introduced  as  an  abiding  practice 
during  his  pontificate. 

As  it  happens,  the  last  dated  epitaph  from  the  extra-mural 
cemetery  of  St.  Callistus  belongs  to  560,  the  year  before  John's 
election,  and  is  a  sign  that  from  that  time  burial  outside  the  walls 
ceased  to  be  the  rule.  To  his  pontificate,  in  the  year  567, 
also  belongs  the  most  ancient  dated  inscription  from  a  cemetery 
within  the  City,  that,  namely,  from  the  graveyard  on  the  Esquiline 
between  the  Baths  of  Diocletian  and  the  church  of  St.  Eusebius. 
The  epitaph  was  discovered  in  1691  in  silu  between  Christian 
graves  laid  bare  in  what  was  then  the  Villa  Peretti,  and  later  the 
Villa  Massimi.  The  recent  excavations  during  the  building  of 
the  new  quarter  on  the  Esquiline  brought  to  light  other  very 
ancient  epitaphs  from  this  same  great  cemetery.1 

In  this  neighbourhood  lay  formerly  a  number  of  extensive 
gardens,  among  which  the  splendid  Horti  Maecenatis  and  Horti 
Lamiani  are  known  by  name.  This  district  of  Rome,  which  had 
never  been  built  over,  seemed  in  a  later  age  peculiarly  suited  for 
the  construction  of  graveyards. 

When  the  famous  Caius  Cilnius  Maecenas  laid  out  his  gardens 
here,  he  found  numerous  puticuli  or  grave-pits  in  which  the  dead 
were  herded.  These  pits  lay  just  outside  the  Servian  Wall,  and 
were  consequently  not  within  the  ancient  City.  As  their  stench  was 
a  nuisance  to  the  whole  neighbourhood,  Maecenas  had  them  buried 
beneath  a  deep  layer  of  soil,  above  which  he  established  gardens 
of  which  the  charm  and  profusion  formed  a  curious  contrast  with 
what  was  below  the  surface.  One  conservatory  belonging  to  these 
gardens  is  still  preserved,  and  probably  marks  the  centre.  This 
building,  adorned  with  frescoes,  was  unearthed  during  the  excava- 
tions on  the  Esquiline  just  alluded  to.  We  can  still  see  how  it 
was  partly  supported  by  the  masonry  of  the  Servian  Wall  which 

1  On  the  last  burials  in  the  Catacomb  of  Callistus,  see  DE  Rossi,  Roma  soft.,  III., 
557.  The  find  in  1691  was  made  in  the  "  hortis  Perettianis  nunc  Negronianis"  (later 
Villa  Massimi),  see  DE  ROSSI,  I.e.,  I.,  218,  from  BLANCHINUS,  Anastasii  Vitae pontiff.,  3, 
300  ;  also  Gatti,  Bull.  arch,  com.,  1889,  p.  392. 


No.  431] 


URBAN  CEMETERIES 


H7 


passed  by  it.  It  is  usually  known  now  as  the  Auditorium 
Maecenatis) 

Thus  a  Christian  graveyard  and  a  church  of  St.  Eusebius 
took  possession  of  the  decayed  glories  of  these  gardens,  and  the 
site  again  was  used  for  the  same  purpose  as  previous  to  the  im- 
provements introduced  by  Maecenas.  The  Christian  manner  of 
burial  was,  however,  something  immeasurably  more  honourable 
and  dignified  than  that  of  the  heathen  period.  It  was  in  keeping 
with  the  dignity  of  man  which  the  Church  preached.  The  sepul- 
chres, even  of  the  poorest,  were  no  longer  pits  into  which  the 
bodies  were  cast  one  upon  the  other,  but  narrow,  cleanly,  single 
tombs,  usually  built  of  brick,  covered  with  a  roof,  and  resting 
just  below  the  surface  of  the  soil.  High  and  low  received  the 
same  funeral-blessing,  and  the  last  liturgical  greeting  of  the 
Church  so  beautifully  expressed  in  her  prayers  for  everlasting 
peace,  the  pax  of  the  other  world. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  station  in  the  ancient  Titulus  of  St. 
Eusebius — then  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  cemetery-church — 
which  is  still  marked  in  the  Roman  Missal  for  the  Friday  after 
the  fourth  Sunday  in  Lent,  the  Gospel  dealt,  as  it  still  does,  with 
the  Raising  of  Lazarus.  The  reason  for  the  choice  of  this  Gospel, 
though  at  first  sight  not  clear,  is  soon  understood  if  we  call  to 
mind  the  surroundings  of  this  station  in  ancient  times.  The  pro- 
cession on  its  way  to  Mass  at  the  station-church  of  St.  Eusebius 
had  to  cross  the  broad  and  perhaps  most  fashionable  cemetery  of 
Rome.  What,  then,  could  be  more  in  keeping  with  the  allusive- 
ness  beloved  of  the  Liturgy  than  that  the  deacon  should  chant  the 
words  spoken  by  our  Lord  to  Martha  :  "I  am  the  Resurrection 
and  the  Life,"  and  to  her  brother  Lazarus:  "Lazarus,  come 
forth  " — that  mighty  word  of  which  the  fulfilment  in  Lazarus 
contains  a  happy  promise  for  all  Christians  ? 

431.  Another  Christian  place  of  burial  in  Rome  existed  within 
the  former  Praetorian  Camp,  and  is  even  slightly  older  than  the 
last.  This  cemetery  may  date  back  to  the  time  of  Theodoric. 
This  we  may  gather  from  the  brick-stamp  of  this  king,  which 
was  found  in  one  of  the  Christian  graves  there.    In  1863  early 

1  The  laying  out  of  the  Maecenas  Gardens  is  described  by  Horace  {Sat.,  lib.  1,  c.  8) : 
"  Hue prius  angustis  eiecta  ccuiavera  ce/lis,"  &c.  Cp.  NlBBV,  Roma  antica,  2,  339.  For 
the  so-calied  auditorium  Alaccenatis,  cp.  C.  L.  VlSCONTl,  Bull.  arch,  com.,  1875,  p.  137  ff., 
with  plates.    It  stands  at  the  junction  of  the  Via  Merulana  and  Via  Leopardi. 


148 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  431 


Christian  burial-places  were  again  found  in  the  small  buildings 
once  occupied  by  the  Praetorians.1 

The  Praetorians  had  been  disbanded  under  Constantine  the 
Great.  Their  camp,  the  enormous  square  enclosure  within  the 
City  Wall  between  the  Porta  Nomentana  and  the  Porta  Tiburtina, 
no  doubt  continued  even  later  to  be  used  by  the  military.  In  the 
fourth  century  no  interments  had  taken  place  there,  but  towards 
the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  and  during  the  Gothic  period,  the  site 
may  well  have  been  selected  for  such  purposes.  This  field,  almost 
cut  off  from  the  City  by  its  walls,  and  projecting  from  the  forti- 
fications of  the  City,  may  have  been  chosen  as  a  natural  and  easy 
transition  from  extra-mural  to  intra-mural  burial. 

Even  that  part  of  the  City  lying  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Tiber  had,  in  the  latter  years  of  the  sixth  century,  its  Christian 
cemetery  within  the  walls. 

It  was  not  till  1889  that  a  proof  of  this  was  found  near  the 
church  of  San  Cosimato  in  Trastevere.  This  was  an  epitaph 
of  a  couple  named  Felix  and  Victorina,  belonging  probably  to  the 
close  of  the  sixth  century.  On  account  of  its  importance  and  as  a 
specimen  of  the  writing  of  the  period  we  have  reproduced  it  in 
full  (111.  206). 2  Felix,  or,  as  he  is  called  in  the  epitaph,  Feles, 
was  buried  with  his  consort  on  the  Micaurea,  i.e.  Mica  aurea. 
The  eastern  slopes  of  the  Janiculus  were  thus  called  during  the 
Middle  Ages,  on  account  of  their  golden  sands,  whilst  the 
churches  of  San  Cosimato  and  San  Giovanni  della  Malva  situated 
there  were  formerly  spoken  of  as  in  Mica  aurea.  The  above 
recently  discovered  epitaph,  which  contains  an  allusion  to  this 
cemetery,  is  the  first  witness  we  have  to  this  name,  which  prob- 
ably originated  in  classical  times.3 

The  fourth  and  last  cemetery  of  the  sixth  century  was  not 
found  till  quite  lately,  in  1895,  though  it  was  situated  on  one  of 
the  most  famous  sites  of  early  Rome,  namely,  on  the  north  side 
of  the  Coliseum,  below  the  Baths  of  Titus.  Here,  at  the  foot  of 
the  Oppius,  in  the  heart  of  the  monumental  portion  of  the  City, 

1  De  Rossi,  Roma  sott.,  I.,  218,  on  the  earlier  find  described  by  LuPI  {Dissert.,  i, 
65),  and  on  the  more  recent  excavations  under  Mgr.  de  Merode,  the  Papal  Minister 
of  War. 

2  From  the  original  in  the  Museum  of  the  Orto  Botanico.  "  EI  VE  "  for  "  SIVE  "  [?] 
USE  BIBIFECERNT"  for  "  SE  VIVIS  FECERVNT,"  "  MESE  "  for  "MENSE," 
&c.  ;  the  diction  and  engraving  likewise  are  typical  of  the  period  of  decaying  culture. 

3  See  Gatti,  Delia  Mica  aurea  net  Trastevere  {Bull.  arch,  com.,  1889),  p.  392  ;  "della 
Malva"  may  be  a  corruption  of  Mica  aurea. 


o 

on 
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o 


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<•  ni  H 


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4- 


U  W  V\ 

H  <C  5 

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CQ  g 


O 


^7-  UJ  ^ 

e  u 

H  2= 


cu 
I— 

CO 

DC  s 

6^ 


H  >< 

z  « 

W  H 

>  H 

W  W 


No.  432] 


URBAN  CEMETERIES 


149 


Christian  tombs  had  been  placed  quite  early,  not  only  on  the 
rubbish  and  soil  which  soon  began  to  cover  the  ancient  ground, 
but  even  on  the  original  level  on  which  the  Coliseum  was  built. 
Probably  some  church  existed  here,  and  was  surrounded  by  this 
burial-ground.  The  bricks  for  the  tombs  were  purloined  from 
earlier  structures,  as  is  shown  by  their  classical  stamps.  Nine  of 
these  stamps  belong,  however,  to  the  time  of  Theodoric  the  Goth, 
and  in  all  likelihood  the  cemetery  originated  during  his  reign  or 
shortly  afterwards. 

One  especially  interesting  grave  found  during  these  excava- 
tions stood  alone,  and  had  almost  the  shape  of  a  chest,  covered 
with  an  arched  lid.  The  simple  inscription  (111.  207)  \  belonging 
to  the  close  of  the  sixth  or  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century, 
tells  us  in  well-formed  letters,  but  indifferent  Latin,  that  this  was 
"the  place  of  Fortunatus  and  Lucia,  where  their  daughter 
Gemmula,  aged  ten  years,  rests,"  and  threatens  with  the  fate 
of  Judas  any  violator  of  this  spot. 

432.  Formulae  such  as  the  last,  couched  in  language  even 
more  forcible,  become  more  and  more  usual  on  the  Christian 
tombs  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  and  in  the  seventh  century.  Early 
Christianity  was  unacquainted  with  such  threats,  and  in  the 
Catacombs  they  are  unknown.  Such  formulae  were  the  outcome 
of  the  custom  of  burying  the  dead  within  the  City,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  the  tombs  ran  greater  risks  of  being  violated 
by  passers-by,  or  by  unscrupulous  builders.2 

Epitaphs  also  tended  to  become  far  more  commonplace  in 
their  contents,  a  like  deterioration  being  evident  in  the  shape 
of  the  letters  and  in  the  engraving  ;  many  happy  exceptions 
exist,  however,  to  this  rule. 

Instead  of  the  several  names  usual  in  classic  antiquity,  each 
person  bears  a  single  name.  This  may  be  seen,  for  instance, 
on  the  two  epitaphs  just  noticed.    Almost  invariably  the  text  of 

1  From  a  cast  in  the  Museum  of  the  Orto  Botanico.  GATTI,  Notizie  degli  scavi, 
1895,  p.  203  ;  Bull.  arch,  com.,  1895,  No.  122.  f  HIC  EST  LOCVS  FOR  |  TVNATI 
ET  LVCIE  IN  QVO  I  IACET  FILIA  ■  EORVM  GEM  |  MVLA  QVI  [Quae] 
VISIT  \vixii\  AN  •  X  •  ET  I  QVI  HVNC  LOCVM  BIO  |  LABERIT  [violaveriA 
ABET  [habet]  PARTE  [partem]  CVM  IVDA.  The  tomb  was  destroyed  when  the 
new  street  was  built.  Of  a  portion  of  it  a  poor  imitation  exists  in  the  Museum  of  the 
Orto  Botanico  on  the  Caslius.  The  tomb  stood  in  front  of  the  last  pillar  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  atrium  of  the  Baths  of  Titus. 

2  Gatti,  Bull.  arch,  com.,  1895,  p.  123,  gives  some  instances  from  the  Corp.  inscr. 
Int.;  from  DE  Rossi,  Jnscr.  christ.;  and  FABRETTI,  Inscr.  ant. 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  433 


the  epitaph  begins  with  a  cross.  The  most  frequent  introduction 
is  the  simple  "  Here  rests,"  or  "  Here  lies,"  or  "This  is  the  place 
of,"  &c.  ;  the  old  "  in  pace"  is  also  common.  The  manner  of 
dating  also  betrays  a  new  period.  The  Kalends,  Nones,  and 
Ides  of  the  ancient  Romans  are  met  less  and  less  frequently, 
the  date  being  given  by  the  day  of  the  month  ;  indeed,  no  great 
care  is  taken  to  fix  accurately  the  date  of  death.  The  epitaph 
from  the  Mica  aurea,  for  instance,  merely  states  that  the  deceased 
expired  in  the  "month  of  August,"  while  that  from  the  Coliseum 
gives  no  date  whatever. 

The  four  cemeteries  described  were,  of  course,  not  the  only 
ones  in  Rome.  Graveyards  probably  grew  up  around  many 
churches,  especially  the  titular  churches.  The  atriums  of  these 
buildings,  those  spacious  square  open  places,  were  admittedly 
suited  for  such  a  purpose.  In  course  of  time,  however,  the  dead 
were  laid  to  rest  at  every  convenient  spot,  even  amongst  the 
houses  and  the  ancient  monuments  of  the  fallen  City. 


433.  The  Christian  tombs,  for  the  most  part  poor  and  humble, 
strikingly  contrasted  with  the  City's  buildings,  still  grand  and 
stately  in  spite  of  their  decay. 

Yet  a  certain  similarity  of  fate  unites  both  in  spite  of  their 
contrast.  While  Christians  are  burying  everywhere  their  dead, 
Rome  of  the  monuments  is  herself  becoming  one  vast  tomb  ; 
classical  culture  is  expiring,  and  antiquity  is  already  extinct. 
It  does  not  ill-become  the  sinking  City  that  it  should  shelter 
its  departed  Christian  citizens  and  allow  them  to  slumber  near 
their  shrines. 

Contemporary  writings  prove  that  the  aspect  of  Rome  in 
those  days  failed  not  to  excite  melancholy  thoughts.  Rome, 
particularly,  felt  the  distress  caused  by  the  inroads  of  the  Lom- 
bards, who  about  this  time  began  to  descend  on  the  unfortunate 
cities  and  lands  which  were  then  just  on  the  point  of  recovering 
from  their  ruin.  So  great  was  the  misery  and  terror,  that  even 
clear-headed  men,  whose  views  were  in  advance  of  their  age,  were 
ready  to  believe  that  the  end  of  all  things  was  at  hand. 


CHAPTER  \ 


THE  IRRUPTION  OF  THE  LOMBARDS  INTO  ITALY 

434.  Redemptus,  Bishop  of  Ferentum,  to  the  north  of  Rome, 
told  Gregory  the  Great  before  the  latter  became  Pope,  how  once, 
when  visiting  his  parishes,  he  was  overtaken  by  nightfall  near  the 
tomb  of  the  martyr  Eutychius,  and  had  accordingly  spent  the 
night  there.  Towards  midnight  he  had  received  a  vision  of 
the  Saint,  who  said  to  him  :  "  Watchest  thou  ? "  and  on  his 
replying  :  "  I  do  watch,"  the  Saint  added  :  "  The  end  of  all  flesh 
is  at  hand."  1 

Many  connected  this  story  of  the  Bishop,  which  was  already 
in  circulation  during  his  lifetime,  with  certain  prodigies  in  the 
skies,  which,  in  the  midst  of  the  general  excitement,  they  fancied 
they  had  seen  at  night ;  visions  of  fiery  spears,  and  hosts  in 
battle  array,  coming  from  the  north,  and  marching  through  the 
firmament.  That  they  were  the  Lombards,  and  that  they  for- 
bode  the  downfall  of  Italy,  became  a  general  conviction  when 
these  signs  in  the  heavens  were  recalled  after  the  Lombard 
invasion  was  over.^ 

"  Like  a  sword  drawn  from  its  scabbard,"  writes  Gregory 
the  Great,  who,  with  dismay,  witnessed  these  events,  "the  wild 
hordes  suddenly  fell  upon  us,  and  people  sank  on  all  sides  as 
though  mown  down.  Cities  were  depopulated,  strongholds  de- 
stroyed, churches  burnt,  and  monasteries  for  either  sex  laid  level 
with  the  ground.  The  fields  lie  waste  and  the  country  mourns  its 
neglect,  for  there  is  no  one  to  till  it.  The  owners  themselves 
have  disappeared,  and,  where  formerly  there  were  crowds,  wild 
beasts  now  lodge  in  solitude."  These  moving-  words,  written 
only  five-and-twenty  years  after  Alboin's  invasion  of  the  Italian 
provinces,  express  the  feelings  of  one  living  in  a  city  utterly 
distracted  by  the  news  of  misfortune  reaching  it  from  every 
quarter.3 

1  Gregor.,  Dial.  3,  c.  38. 

2  Gregor.,  ibid.,  and  Horn.  I.  in  Evangelia,  n.  1. 

3  Gregor.,  Dial.,  I.e.    The  Pope  in  other  passages  gives  a  similar  description. 

151 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  435 


The  best  historian  of  the  Lombards,  Paulus  Diaconus  or 
Warnefrid,  and,  before  him,  certain  early  authorities,  agree  in 
stating  that  Narses,  the  Byzantine  Regent  of  Italy,  in  revenge 
for  his  own  treatment  by  the  Empire,  had  summoned  the  Lombards 
into  Italy  from  their  settlements  in  Pannonia  and  on  the  Lower 
Danube.  Popular  tradition  at  an  early  date  embellished  the 
story  by  adding  that  Narses  had  despatched  fruits  from  the  gardens 
of  Italy  to  attract  the  foreigners.  It  has  proved  impossible  to 
explain  the  many  difficulties  inherent  in  these  reports.  The  Liber 
pontificalis  informs  us  that  ultimately  disagreements  became  rife 
between  Narses  and  the  inhabitants  of  Rome,  in  consequence  of 
which,  and  as  already  narrated,  Pope  John  III.  was  forced  to 
take  refuge  at  the  Cemetery  of  Praetextatus.  It  is  by  no  means 
impossible  that  during  those  days  of  incessant  anxiety  and  alarm, 
such  charges  of  treason  against  his  sovereign  may  have  been 
quite  unfoundedly  levelled  at  so  unpopular  a  Governor  as  Narses. 
As  so  often  happens,  they  would  then  have  readily  secured  credit, 
and  found  their  way  into  the  by  no  means  critical  chronicles  of 
that  day.1 

435.  The  invasion  of  the  Lombard  host  was  made  through 
the  Predil  Pass  in  the  spring  of  568,  i.e.  in  the  pontificate  of 
John  III.2 

In  setting  out  from  their  settlements  in  Pannonia,  and  even 
while  on  the  march,  they  attracted  swarms  of  other  warlike 
Germans,  Gepidse,  Saxons,  Alemanni,  and  Suevi,  as  well  as  Slavs 
from  the  East.  The  invaders  were  mostly  heathen,  though  the 
Lombards,  for  the  most  part,  were  Arians. 

Alboin  is  said  to  have  ascended  in  Friuli,  when  coming  from 
the  Alps,  the  mountain  which  to  this  day  is  called  the  King's 
Mount  (Monte  del  Re).  Here  with  his  retinue  he  looked  down 
upon  the  lovely  plain  of  the  country  stretched  out  before  him. 
A  future  made  up  of  battles  and  sorrows  for  luckless  Italy  lay 

1  The  Liber pont.,  i,  305,  n.  110,  Johannes  III.,  says  already  :  "  Narsis  scripsit  genti 
Langobardorum,  ut  venirent  et  possiderent  Italiam."  Paulus  Diaconus,  or  Warnefrid, 
Hist.  Lang.,  2,  c.  5,  relies  on  tradition  when  he  speaks  of  the  "  multimoda  pomorum 
genera  aliarumque  rerum  species,  quarum  Italia  ferax  est."  He  also  speaks  of  Narses's 
threat  to  the  Empress  Sophia:  " talem  se  eidem  telam  orditurum,  qualem  ipsa,  duni 
viveret  deponere  non posset''1  Ed.  Bethmann-Waitz  (Mon.  Germ,  hist.,  SS.  rer.  Lang, 
et  Hal.),  p.  5.  Cp.  Fredegarius,  3, 65,  ed.  Krusch  (Mon.  Germ,  hist.,  SS.  rer.  Merov., 
2),  p.  no.  For  John  III.  and  Narses,  see  Liber  pont..  1,  305,  n.  no.  Hartmann, 
Gesch.  Italiens  im  MA.,  2  (1900),  23,  33. 

2  On  the  Predil  Pass,  see  Neues  Archiv,  15  (1890),  211. 


no.  435]  THE  LOMBARD  INVASION 


!53 


in  the  wild  cravings  and  projects  which  at  that  moment  must 
have  filled  the  enterprising  warrior  and  his  followers.1 

The  invading  flood  then  swept  into  the  plain.  It  comprised 
men,  women,  and  children,  with  their  possessions,  provisions,  and 
army  material  loaded  on  waggons,  escorted  by  fleet  horsemen. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  country  hastened  to  the  cities  of  refuge, 
but  the  cities  themselves  soon  yielded  to  hunger.  The  Byzantine 
troops,  few  in  number,  badly  captained,  and  with  their  pay  in 
arrears,  failed  to  make  a  stand.  The  citizens  could  only  seek 
safety  in  flight  to  the  coasts. 

Milan  was  taken  September  4th,  569,  and  the  occupant  of 
the  see,  Honoratus,  a  schismatic  Bishop  and  upholder  of  the 
Three  Chapters,  fled  to  the  stronghold  of  Genoa,  instead  of 
suffering  with  his  flock.  Paulinus,  too,  the  head  of  the  Three- 
Chapters  faction  in  Aquileia,  forsook  his  episcopal  city  before 
it  was  invested.  He  hastily  gathered  together  the  Cathedral 
treasures,  and  hurried  to  the  safer,  rocky  island  of  Gradus 
(Grado)  to  the  south  of  Aquileia.  This  became  the  new  head- 
quarters of  the  Metropolitan,  whilst  Aquileia  itself  perished  in 
the  flames. 

The  cities  of  Venetia  were,  almost  all,  taken  by  the  Lom- 
bards. Only  Patavium,  Mons  Silicis  (Monselice),  Mantua,  and 
a  few  others  held  out.  The  province  of  I  stria  remained,  how- 
ever, partly  Byzantine.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Lombard  King 
captured  Ticinum  (Pavia),  dominating  the  river  Po,  after  three 
years'  blockade.  During  the  tedious  and  difficult  siege,  he  sent 
on  his  soldiers  to  the  south,  where  these  wild  guests  filled 
the  City  of  Rome  with  terror.  Many  districts  between  Rome 
and  Ravenna  were  mercilessly  ravaged  by  them.  Meanwhile 
the  commander-in-chief  appointed  by  the  Emperor,  Longinus 
the  Prefect  of  Italy,  proved  powerless  to  resist,  receiving  but 
little  help  from  the  East,  while,  to  add  to  his  difficulties,  famine 
and  pestilence  raged  throughout  the  land,  as  though  in  league 
with  the  Lombards.  The  Lombards,  flushed  with  victory,  were 
already  threatening  an  incursion  into  Southern  Italy  when  Alboin, 
in  May  or  June  572,  was  slain  by  his  own  men. 

After  the  King's  murder  and  the  reign  of  his  successor,  Cleph, 
which  lasted  only  a  year  and  half,  came  ten  years  of  anarchy 


1  Paul.  Diac,  2,  c.  8  :  "  montem,  qui  in  eisdem  locis prominet,  ascendit,"  Sec. 


!54 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  435 


among  the  Lombards,  every  captain  striving  to  reign  on  his  own 
account.  This  was  in  one  sense  the  saving  of  Rome,  for  it  pre- 
vented the  carrying  out  of  any  coherent  plan  of  warfare ;  in 
fact  it  was  to  this  lack  of  method  displayed  by  the  Lombards 
that  the  City  owed  it  never  to  have  fallen  into  their  hands.  As 
for  the  provinces  given  over  to  the  erj£my,  that  "  decennary  of 
the  dukes  "  was  only  the  more  terrible,  indeed  it  was  the  worst 
period  of  the  invasion.  "At  that  time,"  says  Warnefrid,  "many 
noble  Romans  {i.e.  Latins  of  the  provinces)  were  murdered 
from  greed,  the  rest  were  forced  to  pay  tribute  of  a  third  of 
their  property  to  the  Lombards.  Churches  were  plundered, 
priests  killed,  cities  devastated,  and  the  people  exterminated. 
Parts  of  Italy  which  had  hitherto  escaped  conquest  passed  under 
the  yoke  of  the  Lombards."  Such  is  a  sketch,  made  in  bold 
strokes,  of  the  wretched  country.1 

Sicily,  however,  and  the  two  southern  extremities  of  the 
peninsula  were  never  subjugated,  whilst  Naples  and  Rome  too, 
with  their  neighbourhood,  always  remained  Byzantine.  Ravenna, 
with  a  part  of  the  Exarchate  and  the  Pentapolis,  was  subdued 
only  for  a  time.  Likewise  the  sea-coasts  of  Venetia,  of  Istria, 
including  Pola  and  Parentium,  and  of  Liguria,  with  Genoa, 
remained  secure. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Lombards  obtained  a  firm  footing  in 
Spoletium  and  Beneventum.  In  the  former  city,  Faroald  and  his 
successor,  Ariulf,  established  the  headquarters  of  a  dukedom  of 
Spoleto  amidst  the  grand  edifices  of  the  Romans  and  Pelasgians  ; 
in  the  second  Duke  Zotto,  followed  by  Arichis,  laid  the  foundation 
of  his  rule. 

It  was  Zotto,  a  savage  and  ungovernable  prince,  who,  in  589, 
attacked  the  monastery  of  Monte  Cassino.  There  four  saintly 
men,  Constantine,  Simplicius,  Vitalis,  and  Bonitus,  had  ruled  as 
abbots  after  the  death  of  Benedict  the  founder.  Under  the  last 
it  was  that  the  treacherous  assault  took  place.  He  and  his  monks 
were  awakened  in  the  night  by  the  clash  of  arms,  and  compelled 
to  seek  safety  in  flight.  With  nothing  but  the  original  charter 
of  the  Benedictine  rule,  and  their  rations  of  bread  and  wine,  they 
reached  Rome,  where  they  were  given  a  monastery  near  the 

1  Paul.  DiaC,  2,  c.  32  {an.  575).  Cp.  GREGOR.  Tur.,  Hist.  Franc,  4,  c.  41  : 
"  regionem  ingrcssi  [Langobardi1,  maxime  per  septem  annos  pervaga?ites,  spoliatis 
ecclesiis,  sacerdotibus  interfectis,  in  suam  redigunt  potestatem  ':'' 


no.  436]  THE  LOMBARD  INVASION  155 


Lateran,  which  was  for  many  years  governed  by  their  abbot, 
Valentinian.  Ultimately,  after  nearly  a  century  and  a  half, 
Monte  Cassino  rose  again  from  its  ruins. 

436.  In  the  meantime  Pope  John  III.  had  died,  and  Bene' 
diet  L,  a  Roman,  who  succeeded  him,  June  2,  575,  found  himself 
and  his  flock  plunged  into  the  horrors  of  war,  with  no  help 
forthcoming  from  Byzantium.  On  the  Bosphorus  money  and 
troops  were  scarce,  nor  was  there,  perhaps,  any  general  who 
could  have  been  entrusted  with  such  a  campaign.  Want  of 
confidence,  even  more  than  its  poverty,  proved  the  undoing  of 
the  Eastern  Court. 

In  577  the  Patrician  Pamphronius  departed  from  Rome,  on 
a  mission  to  Constantinople,  carrying  a  sum  of  three  hundred 
pounds  in  gold  wherewith  to  persuade  the  reigning  autocrat 
and  Tiberius,  his  heir-apparent,  to  take  measures  in  favour  of 
the  City.  His  mission  was,  however,  in  vain,  and  he  had  to 
bring  back  the  money.  At  the  Court  he  was  informed  that,  in 
view  of  the  other  engagements  of  the  Empire,  it  would  not  be 
possible  to  assist  Italy  for  some  time  to  come.  He  was  there- 
fore advised  to  offer  his  money  as  a  bribe  either  to  the  leaders 
of  the  Lombards  or  to  the  Frankish  dukes,  who  might  then 
assail  the  enemy  in  the  rear.  As  things  stood,  the  Empire 
had  its  hands  quite  full  with  the  Persian  War.1 

At  any  rate,  under  Benedict  I.,  when  the  City  stood  in 
danger  of  famine,  the  Romans  had  at  least  the  satisfaction  of 
receiving  the  time-honoured  Imperial  annona  brought  by  corn- 
ships  from  Egypt.2 

It  may  have  been  at  this  time  that  the  Emperor  Justin  II. 
and  his  consort,  Sophia,  presented  Rome  with  the  famous  cross 
containing  a  relic  of  the  True  Cross,  for  the  inscription  on  it 
alludes  to  the  aid  which  Justin  hoped  Heaven  would  send  the 
City  out  of  consideration  for  it.     This  cross  of  precious  metal 

1  MENANDER,  Excerpt,  de  Icgat.  gentium  ad  Rom.,  25  ;  P.G.,  CXI  1 1.,  835  :  Pam- 
phronius brought  to  Constantinople  &xp>-  Kevr-qvapiuv  TpidKovra,  i.e.  thirty  centenaria  or  three 
hundred  pounds  in  gold.  We  may  well  believe  that  the  money  had  been  raised  from  the 
estates  of  the  Church,  as  happened  so  frequently  on  similar  occasions.  "  Viginti  iam  ei 
sefitem  annos  ducimics,  quod  iji  hac  urbe  inter  Langobardorum  gladios  vivimus"  writes 
Gregory  the  Great,  on  June  1,  595,  to  the  Empress  Constantina,  "  quibus  quatn  multa  ab 
hac  ecclesia  cotidianis  diebus  crogantur,  ut  inter  eos  vivere  possimus,  suggerenda  noti 
sunt."  He  also  calls  himself  the  treasurer  (saccei/arius)  of  the  Lombards.  Registrum, 
5,  n.  39,  ed.  Maur.,  in  MiGNE,  5,  n.  21. 

2  Liber  pont.,  I,  308,  Benedict  us,  n.  in. 


i56 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  436 


now  forms  the  most  ancient  and  remarkable  specimen  of  such 
votive  offerings  possessed  by  St.  Peter's  (see  Vol.  II.,  111. 
131)- 

In  the  summer  of  579  Rome  experienced  her  first  siege  by 
the  Lombard  hosts,  Benedict  I.  dying  July  30,  in  that  same 
year,  as  the  Liber  pontificalis  says,  "  sunk  in  sorrow  and 
affliction."    His  pontificate  had  lasted  a  little  over  four  years.1 

Whereas,  before  Benedict,  the  See  had  been  vacant  for  nearly 
a  year,  his  successor,  Pelagius  II.,  likewise  a  Roman,  ascended  the 
Papal  throne  on  November  26,  579,  barely  four  months  after  his 
predecessor's  death,  and  reigned  for  ten  years.  He  was  consecrated 
while  the  foe  was  still  raging  at  the  gates.  At  other  times  it 
was  usual  to  delay  the  consecration  until  the  Emperor's  assent 
had  been  obtained.  On  this  occasion,  however,  all  communica- 
tion was  impossible,  either  with  the  Court  at  Constantinople  or 
with  the  Imperial  plenipotentiary  at  Ravenna.  Yet,  at  this 
moment,  Rome  could  ill  forego  the  protection  which  the  Pope, 
at  the  head  of  the  City,  had  long  been  accustomed  to  exercise. 
Hence  Pelagius  was  consecrated  without  further  ado  and  without 
any  ratification  having  been  obtained  (Cp.  above,  p.  56  f.).2 

It  appears  that  only  the  active  intervention  of  the  Pope, 
and  particularly  liberal  offers  of  the  Church's  gold,  succeeded 
in  inducing  the  enemy  to  withdraw.  At  any  rate  we  find 
Pelagius  II.,  at  a  later  date,  speaking  of  the  oath  taken  by 
the  Lombards  to  refrain  from  attacking  Rome.3 

As  soon  as  the  besiegers  had  retreated,  an  embassy  from 
the  Pope  and  City  again  set  out  for  Constantinople,  to  ask  for 
help,  and,  at  the  same  time  also,  to  come  to  an  understanding 
with  the  Court  respecting  the  Pope's  election.  The  Emperor 
Tiberius,  who  had  meanwhile  assumed  the  reins  of  government, 
in  579  or  580,  at  last  nominated  a  special  Commander-in-chief 
for  Italy,  whose  office  was  identified  with  that  of  the  Exarch 
of  Italy.  But  beyond  sending  a  few  troops,  East  Rome  could 
do  little  more  than  revert  to  its  old  expedient  of  either  bribing 

1  Liber  pont.,  ibid.  For  the  length  of  the  pontificate  of  this  and  the  succeeding 
Popes,  see  Duchesne,  Liber  pont.,  i,  p.  cclv.  ff.  and  PI.  p.  cclxi.  ff. 

2  "  Hie  ordinatur  absque  iiessione  principis,  eo  quod  La?igobardi  obsederent  civitatem 
romanam  et  inulta  vastatio  ab  eis  in  Italia  fieret?    Liber  pont.,  I,  309,  n.  112.  Ed. 

MOMMSEN,  p.  160. 

3  Letter  written  in  584  to  Gregory  the  Apocrisiarius  at  Constantinople.  P.L.,  LXXV., 
76;  LXXII.,  703;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  1052.  New  edition  by  Hartmann  in  Mon. 
Germ,  hist.,  Epist.,  2,  2,  p.  440. 


No.  437] 


POPE  PELAGIUS  II. 


l57 


the  Lombard  leaders,  or  inciting  the  Franks  to  create  a  diver- 
sion by  invading  the  northern  frontiers  of  the  Lombard 
territories.1 

437.  Pope  Pelagius  II.  himself  repeatedly  appealed  to  the 
Franks.  Aunacharius,  Bishop  of  Antissiodorum,  having  sent 
an  embassy  to  Rome  to  fetch  some  relics  of  SS.  Peter  and 
Paul,  the  Pope  improved  the  occasion.  The  diocese  ruled  by 
Aunacharius  belonged  to  the  Burgundian  realm  of  King  Gun- 
tram,  and  as  the  Bishop  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  this  King, 
and  likewise  enjoyed  consideration  at  the  other  Frankish  Courts, 
he  seemed  the  right  man  to  advocate  the  cause  of  Italy  and 
Rome.  Hence  the  Pope  requested  him  to  give  practical  effect 
to  the  reverence  for  Rome  and  the  See  of  Peter,  so  profusely 
expressed  by  his  envoys,  by  interceding  with  the  Frankish 
princes  on  behalf  of  the  City.  The  Pope  seems  to  fathom  the 
future  :  "  It  is  our  conviction  that  Providence  bestowed  upon  your 
Kings  the  true  Faith,  yea,  the  same  that  is  held  by  the  Roman 
Empire,  that  this  City  of  Rome,  whence  comes  the  Faith,  and  all 
Italy  might  obtain  neighbourly  protection  from  you."2 

The  plans  of  Pelagius  were  not,  however,  particularly  suc- 
cessful in  the  West.  He  lacked  the  effectual  support  of  the 
Empire.  At  first  the  Emperor  Mauritius,  who  succeeded 
Tiberius,  paid  but  little  attention  to  Italian  affairs.  Even  the 
important  seaport,  Classis,  near  Ravenna,  was  allowed  to  fall 
into  the  Lombards'  hands.  When  the  Pope  appealed  to 
Ravenna  for  help,  Decius,  the  Patrician,  who  since  584  had 
been  Exarch,  explained  to  him  that  he  could  not  even  defend 
the  surrounding  districts,  much  less  attend  to  Rome.  In  Rome 
itself  there  was  but  a  small  band  of  Byzantine  soldiers,  with  no 
magister  militum,  and  without  even  a  dux.6 

The  untiring  Pope  again  turned  with  anxious  remonstrances 

1  On  the  embassy,  see  Menander,  I.e.,  n.  25,  p.  835.  On  the  Commander-in-chief, 
see  Hartmann,  Byzantin.  Verwaltung  in  Italien,  p.  8. 

2  "  Nec  enim  credimus  ofiosum  nec  sine  magna  divinae  providentiac  admiratione 
\administratione  f~\  dispositum,  quod  vestri  reges  romano  iinperio  in  orthodoxae  fidci 
confessione  sunt  similes;  nisi  ut  huic  urbi,  ex  qua  fuerat  oriunda,  vel  universae  Italiae 
finitimos  adiutoresque  praestaret."  Letter  dated  October  5,  580.  P.L.,  LXXII.,  705  ; 
Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  1048.  New  edition  by  Gundlach  in  Mon.  Germ,  hist.,  Epist.,  3, 
448.  Cp.  the  second  letter  (in  P.L.,  ibid.,  744;  Gundlach,  449 ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr., 
1057),  dated  October  31,  586,  where  the  Pope  again  laments  the  miseries  of  war,  but 
makes  no  further  allusion  to  political  intervention. 

3  From  the  previously  quoted  (p.  156,  note  3)  letter  of  the  Pope  to  Gregory. 


i58 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[NO.  438 


to  Constantinople,  where  the  future  Pope,  Gregory,  the  Roman 
deacon,  was  then  apocrisiary.  Unhappily,  only  one  of  the 
"  many  letters  "  has  been  spared  to  us,  which  Pelagius,  accord- 
ing to  Paul  the  Deacon,  sent  to  Gregory.  In  this.  Pelagius, 
among  other  things,  says :  "  What  we  endure  from  the  Lom- 
bards, in  spite  of  the  oath  sworn  to  us,  no  tongue  could  ever 
tell.  .  .  .  Unless  God  moves  the  heart  of  the  Emperor  to 
hasten  to  our  aid,  then  all  is  at  stake."  A  Papal  notary, 
Honoratus,  had  arrived  in  Rome  from  Ravenna.  He  was 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  position  of  affairs  there,  having 
apparently  been  accredited  to  the  Exarch's  Court  as  Papal 
"  Responsalis  "  or  apocrisiary.  In  the  autumn  of  584  Pelagius 
sent  him  to  Constantinople,  with  a  certain  Bishop  Sebastian, 
that  both  might  support  Gregory  in  an  urgent  appeal  for 
help.1 

438.  The  long  interregnum  of  the  Lombard  "dukes  "  came  to 
an  end  at  about  this  time,  and  Cleph's  son  Authari  was  chosen 
Kingr.  He  took  the  classic  name  of  Flavius  in  addition  to  his 
own  barbaric  one,  aping  in  this  the  Byzantine  Emperors, 
who  were  accustomed  to  borrow  the  name  of  Flavius  from  the 
family  of  V espasian  and  Titus,  though  with  no  more  right  than 
Authari. 

In  spite  of  the  regal  title,  Lombard  royalty  was  only  superficial. 
The  great  crimes,  which  hitherto  had  signalised  their  changes 
of  rulers,  continued  to  disgrace  them.  Alboin,  their  first  king  in 
Italy,  had  been  murdered  in  revenge  by  his  wife  Rosamund,  and 
she  was  in  turn  disposed  of  by  poison  at  Ravenna.  King  Cleph 
fell  by  the  sword  of  a  slave,  and  our  authorities  state  that  King 
Authari  also  was  poisoned  by  a  traitor.  Such  tragedies  were  a 
reproach  to  the  throne  established  by  force  in  the  heart  of  a 
Christian  country. 

From  the  time  of  Authari's  successor,  Agilulf,  we  have  a 
work  which  displays  the  portraits  of  some  of  those  savage 
warriors  who  conquered  Italy.  The  scene,  executed  with  utter 
lack  of  artistic  skill,  is  a  sort  of  glorification  of  Agilulf — whose 
name  is  inscribed  near  his  head — and  of  the  victorious  sword, 
which  the   King,   seated  on  a  throne,  bears  across  his  knees 


1  From  the  previously  quoted  (p.  156,  note  3)  letter  of  the  Pope  to  Gregory. 


no.  438]  THE  LOMBARDS  159 

(111.  208). 1  This  work  of  art,  if  we  may  so  call  it,  now  in  the 
Museo  del  Bargello  at  Florence,  is  the  oldest  representation 
known  of  the  Lombards  during"  their  occupation  of  Italy,  and 
consists  of  a  very  thin  silver  plate  in  hammered  work.  Two 
attendants,  with  shield,  spear  and  plumed  helmets,  guard  the 
King ;  two  winged  Victories  hover  to  the  right  and  the  left, 
but  so  ludicrously  shown  that  they  would  not  be  recognisable 
save  that  they  each  hold  a  shield  with  the  word  VICTVRIA. 
In  the  other  hand  each  brandishes  a  horn  of  plenty  ;  beyond 
these,  on  either  side,  are  Lombards,  possibly  vanquished 
"  dukes,"  coming  to  make  their  submission  ;  finally,  at  each 
extremity,  a  youth  is  seen  bringing  the  King  a  crown  sur- 
mounted by  a  cross.  Two  slender  towers  form  a  sort  of  frame- 
work for  the  picture.  Especially  noticeable  in  these  Lombards 
is  their  long  hair,  parted  in  the  middle  and  hanging  down  on  each 
side.  The  King,  too,  has  a  very  long,  shaggy,  pointed  beard  ; 
to  this  custom  of  wearing  beards  the  nation  owed  the  name  of 
Lombards,  Langobardi,  or  "  Long  beards."  The  epitaph  in 
Ravenna  of  Duke  Droctulf,  who  deserted  Authari,  and  went 
over  to  the  Empire,  says  of  him :  "His  face  was  terrible  to 
behold  ...  a  long  beard  covered  his  mighty  breast." 2 

The  description  given  by  Warnefrid  of  the  pictures  from 
Lombard  history  in  the  palace  of  Agilulf's  consort  Theodelinde 
at  Modicia  (Monza)  affords  fuller  details  about  the  outward  ap- 
pearance of  the  Lombards  :  "  They  shaved  the  neck  and  back  of 
the  head,"  he  says,  "  and  allowed  the  remaining  hair  to  hang  over 
their  cheeks  down  to  the  mouth,  taking  care,  however,  to  part 
it  in  the  middle.  Their  dress  was  loose  and  usually  of  linen, 
resembling  that  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  ;  it  was  commonly  orna- 
mented with  broad  coloured  stripes.  Their  shoes  were  open 
above  almost  down  to  the  big  toe,  and  kept  in  place  by  crossed 
leathern  thongs."  3 

1  Cp.  Umberto  Rossi,  Archivio  storico  dell'  arte,  1893,  p.  22.    Near  the  King's 

DN 

head  stands  the  inscription  :      IL      in  connection  with  which  we  should  read  the 

VL 

R  KG  [?] 

twice-repeated  word  VICTVRIA,  i.e.,  Victory  to  King  Agilulf.  The  plate  can  scarcely 
be  Lombard  work,  as  Lombard  art  was  then  not  yet  born. 

2  On  Droctulf,  see  Paul.  Diac,  Hist  Lang.,  3,  c.  19  ;  ed.  Bethmann,  p.  102.  The 
inscription  says :  "  Terribilis  visit  facies,  sed  corda  benigna  \  Lojigague  robasto  pectore 
barba  fuit." 

3  Paul.  Diac,  ibid.,  4,  c.  23;  Bethmann,  p.  124.  Warnefrid  adds  :  " Postea  vero 
coeperunt  osis  [Ziosis]  uti,  super  quas  equitantes  subrugos  birreos  mittebant" 


160  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  438 


The  heathen  barbarism,  idolatry,  and  unbelief  which  overran 
Italy  with  the  military  rabble  seemed  to  plunge  the  land  into 
hopeless  darkness.  Contemporaries  describe  the  invaders  quite 
simply  as  Pagans  and  abominable  idol-worshippers.  Even  their 
Arianism,  in  itself  impotent  and  effete,  is  mentioned  only  in  con- 
nection with  their  persecution  of  the  Catholics.  The  worship  of 
Odin  was  practised  by  the  conquerors  in  Italy  under  various 
forms  ;  goats  were  sacrificed  to  the  god,  their  heads  being  laid 
before  him.  Adders  also  were  worshipped.  Thus  the  City  of 
Rome  during  its  siege  under  Pelagius  II.  saw  in  its  immediate 
neighbourhood  the  lowest  and  unholiest  forms  of  heathen  worship.1 

During  a  sacrificial  festival  of  the  Lombards,  held  at  some 
place  not  named,  four  hundred  Christian  captives  were  brought  in. 
With  song  and  dance  the  Barbarians  fetched  the  goat's  head, 
and  ordered  the  Christians  to  worship  it.  When  many  stoutly 
refused,  the  Lombards  in  their  fury  seized  their  swords  and 
butchered  them.  In  578,  again,  forty  prisoners  were  massacred 
because  they  refused  to  partake  of  the  flesh  of  sacrifice.  Among 
the  Catholics  tales  were  told  of  heavenly  signs  and  wonders  that 
had  happened  for  the  protection  of  holy  men,  or,  after  their  death, 
to  glorify  their  willing  sacrifice.2 

A  pleasant  picture,  in  refreshing  contrast  to  the  ferocity  of  the 
times,  is,  however,  to  be  found  in  the  life  of  the  hermit  Menas  in 
Samnium,  loved  and  revered  by  the  people,  but  dreaded  by  the 
Lombards.  He  had  relinquished  all  his  worldly  goods,  in  order  to 
make  others  happy  ;  sinners  coming  to  him  were  affectionately 
reproved,  and,  with  holy  violence,  compelled  to  take  the  path  of 
Heaven.  By  special  grace  he  was  even  able  to  read  the  secrets 
of  men's  hearts.  The  faithful  were  accustomed  to  send  him  little 
presents  from  their  stores,  that  in  his  solitude  he  might  exercise 
the  hospitality  he  loved  to  show  to  those  who  sought  him  out. 
One  day  a  fierce  Lombard  attacked  him,  and  tried  to  carry  off 
his  all,  consisting  of  a  few  beehives.  According  to  the  popular 
belief,  however,  an  evil  spirit  at  once  entered  into  the  robber  and 
dreadfully  tormented  him.  God  thus  showed  the  Lombards  how 
great  a  saint  Menas  was.    Such  was  his  power  that  by  lifting  his 

1  Pelagius  II.  ad  Aunacharium,  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  1048:  "  idololatrae."  Greg. 
M.,  Dial.  2,  c.  17;  3,  c.  37  ;  Rcgistrum,  2,  n.  4  (2,  n.  2) ;  Horn.  1  in  Evang.,  n.  1.  On 
the  superstitious  veneration  of  adders  in  the  city  of  Benevento,  see  the  hymn  to  St. 
Barbatus,  in  Borgia,  Memorie  storiche  di  Benevento,  2,  277  ff. 

2  GREG.,  Dial.  3,  c.  28,  27.    Dial.  1,  c.  4,  at  the  end  ;  3,  c.  37  ;  4,  c.  21 ;  4,  c.  23. 


No.  438] 


THE  LOMBARDS 


i6r 


stick  he  could  drive  away  the  bears  of  the  neighbourhood  from 
his  hives.  After  his  encounter  with  the  marauder,  he  obtained 
such  fame  among  the  Lombards  that  none  of  them  would  venture 
to  approach  his  cell  save  with  the  utmost  respect.1 


In  the  early  part  of  King  Authari's  reign,  the  Exarch  Smarag- 
dus  came  to  Italy  to  take  the  place  of  Decius.2 

Smaragdus  gained  advantages  over  the  Lombards  by  inducing 
Droctulf,  one  of  their  dukes,  to  desert  to  him.  Classis  and 
Brexillus  (Bersello)  were  reconquered  for  the  Empire.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  the  Byzantines  were  able  to  conclude  a  fairly 
honourable  three  years'  truce. 

The  Holy  See  availed  itself  of  this  period  of  peace  to  com- 
mence negotiations  with  the  schismatic  Bishops  of  Northern 
Italy,  in  the  hope  of  bringing  them  back  to  the  fold. 

1  Greg.,  Dial.  3,  c.  26. 

2  Probably  as  early  as  585.    Hartmann,  p.  10. 


VOL.  III. 


L 


CHAPTER  VI 


ROME  AND  THE  SCHISM  OF  AQUILEIA 

439.  The  efforts  previously  described  of  Pope  Pelagius  I.  to 
terminate  the  schism  which  had  arisen  in  the  West  on  account 
of  the  Three  Chapters  had  been  only  partially  successful.  The 
Bishops  of  Venetia  and  Istria,  and  particularly  the  Metropolitan 
See  of  Aquileia,  now  removed  to  Grado,  continued  to  oppose 
overtly  the  condemnation  of  the  Chapters  by  the  fifth  CEcumenical 
Council.  They  were  thus  in  open  rebellion  against  the  See  of 
Rome,  which  had  staked  its  authority  upon  that  Council.  Public 
disorder  in  Italy  having  long  hindered  any  mutual  advances,  or 
even  any  intercourse  whatever,  the  breach  remained  unhealed. 

Pelagius  II.,  therefore,  after  the  Byzantine  military  successes 
just  mentioned,  resumed  with  fresh  energy  the  efforts  for  reunion. 
He  was  desirous  of  restoring  the  alienated  North  Italian  terri- 
tories to  Roman  unity,  in  order  the  more  effectually  to  secure 
the  blessings  of  religion  to  those  dioceses  which  were  being  so 
sorely  tried.  But  church  unity  was,  in  his  mind,  to  react  also 
upon  politics  ;  it  was  to  be  the  salvation  of  society ;  it  was  to 
increase  the  power  of  resistance  against  the  invaders  of  the 
threatened  districts  ;  lastly,  it  was  to  secure  the  conversion  of  the 
Barbarians.  The  Pope  sent  a  touching  and  affectionate  letter 
to  the  separated  Bishops  of  Venetia  and  Istria  and  to  their 
subjects. 

"  During  recent  times,"  he  writes  to  them,  "we  have  for  our 
sins  been  forced  to  endure  unheard-of  trials  and  judgments  from 
God.  Could  we  but  attain  to  unity  and  peace  there  would  be 
some  hope  of  these  public  chastisements  also  coming  to  an  end. 
We  should  then  secure  both  earthly  and  everlasting  peace.  .  .  . 
Yet,  with  great  pain,  I  perceive  how  you  still  persist  in  schism. 
You  prefer  to  be  as  vine-branches  severed  from  their  roots. 
You  wish  to  labour  outside  the  vineyard  to  which  the  Lord  has 
appointed  us,  and  in  which  alone  a  reward  may  be  obtained.  .  .  . 
Know  you  not  that  whosoever  is  not  at  peace  and  in  communion 


no.  439]  SCHISM  OF  AQUILEIA  163 

with  the  Church  can  have  no  part  in  God  ?  .  .  .  Look  around 
you.  The  end  of  the  world  is  at  hand,  and  complete  desolation 
covers  the  earth  ;  whole  districts  lie  deserted  ;  a  stormy  deluge 
overwhelms  our  age,  as  under  Noe,  and  yet,  dear  brethren,  you 
refuse  to  enter  into  the  Ark  of  Salvation."  1 

Such  is  the  anxious  Pope's  invitation  to  the  Ark  of  Unity. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  union  of  Catholics  throughout  West  and 
East  under  the  Primate  was — apart  from  the  Three-Chapters 
schism — a  grand  and  edifying  spectacle.  In  all  countries  Rome 
was  recognised  as  the  Keystone  of  Unity.  One  might  have 
wandered  from  the  farthest  Asiatic  frontiers  of  the  Byzantine 
Empire  as  far  as  Ireland,  and  from  the  African  deserts  to  the 
Frankish  realms,  and  yet  have  found  everywhere  the  persuasion 
of  the  necessity  of  communion  with  the  Roman  successors  of  St. 
Peter  as  the  divinely  appointed  guardians  of  the  Faith. 

The  schismatic  advocates  of  the  Three  Chapters  argued, 
however,  that  the  Apostolic  See,  by  approving  the  decisions  of 
Constantinople,  had  connived  -at  an  infraction  of  the  Church's 
ancient  Faith. 

Pelagius,  accordingly,  in  the  same  letter,  adds:  "Reflect,  my 
dearest  brethren,  that  eternal  Truth  can  never  be  convicted  of 
error.  Our  Lord  commissioned  Peter  to  confirm  the  Faith  of 
his  brethren.  Christ  prayed  for  him,  '  that  his  Faith  might  not 
fail.'  Hence  Peter's  faith  will  never  be  shaken  to  all  eternity  ; 
it  remains  unchangeable.  .  .  .  Remember,  too,  that  to  Peter  was 
entrusted  the  feeding  of  all  the  sheep ;  to  him  were  the  keys  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  committed  ;  upon  him  the  Saviour  has 
built  His  Church,  against  which  the  Gates  of  Hell  shall  not 
prevail." 

The  Pope  does  not  omit,  however,  to  add  that  the  Holy  See 
still  holds  firm  to  the  doctrines  set  forth  at  Chalcedon.  For,  as 
already  pointed  out  (see  above,  p.  37),  his  opponents  had  urged 
in  justification  of  their  schism  that  the  rejection  of  the  Three 
Chapters  had  implied  a  condemnation  of  the  Council  of  Chalce- 
don. He  finally  entreats  the  Bishops  to  send  envoys  to  Rome  ; 
there  they  would  be  kindly  received  and  provided  with  all  the 
information  they  might  desire  concerning  the  Three  Chapters. 

This  letter  was  written  in  585  or  586.   The  messengers  chosen 

1  Eline  Aquilcicnsi,  &c.  Mansi,  9,  891 ;  P.L.,  LXXII.,  706  ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n. 
1054.    New  edition  by  Hartmann,  App.  III.  to  Greg.,  Reg.,  1,  p.  442. 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  440 


by  Pelagius  to  carry  it  were  Redemptus,  the  good  Bishop  of 
Ferentum,  to  whom  we  owe  the  story  of  the  prediction  of  the 
end  of  the  world  made  to  him  by  the  martyr  Eutychius,  and 
Quodvultdeus,  Abbot  of  the  "Greater  Monastery  of  the  Basilica 
of  St.  Peter."  Their  first  visit  was  to  be  to  Elias,  Archbishop  of 
Aquileia,  then  resident  on  the  island  of  Gradus. 

440.  Elias  had  succeeded  Archbishop  Paulinus,  who  had 
escaped  from  the  destruction  of  Aquileia  by  fleeing  to  Gradus. 
The  dioceses  which  Elias  controlled,  at  least  nominally,  from  his 
metropolitan  See  of  Gradus,  extended  far  up  to  the  North. 
Besides  Venetia,  Istria,  and  parts  of  Illyricum,  the  ecclesiastical 
province  of  Aquileia  at  that  time  embraced  Noricum  and  Rhaetia 
Secunda.  As  long  as  the  Roman  Empire  was  supreme  in  these 
regions,  it  was  right  and  natural  that  Aquileia  should  take  the 
first  place.  But  since  the  provinces  had  been  seized  by  the 
German  invaders,  the  bond  of  union  between  them  had  been 
loosened.  The  schismatic  Archbishops  of  Gradus,  nevertheless, 
saw  fit  to  assume  great  importance  in  their  dealings  with  the 
Empire.  They  sought  to  persuade  the  Byzantine  Court  that  the 
reconquest  of  the  occupied  provinces  would  depend  very  largely 
on  their  good  will ;  they  also  diligently  kept  up  the  delusive  hopes 
of  the  Eastern  Empire  that  the  enemy  would  soon  be  ousted,  and 
that  their  own  devotion  to  the  Imperial  cause  would  hinder  any 
further  inroads  of  the  Lombards.1 

441.  The  North  Italian  schism  ended  more  promptly  on 
the  western  side  of  the  Peninsula,  i.e.  at  Milan  and  Genoa. 
Honoratus,  the  Archbishop  of  Milan,  who  had  carried  the  schism 
with  him  to  Genoa,  was  dead.  After  his  demise,  the  electors, 
assembled  in  Genoa,  chose  (ca.  574)  Lawrence  II.  as  their  Arch- 
bishop. A  rival  of  the  name  of  Fronto  was,  however,  set  up  by 
those  of  the  clergy  who  remained  behind  at  Milan.  This  schism 
within  a  schism  was  to  lead  to  a  reconciliation  with  Rome. 
Lawrence,  who  seems  to  have  been  more  desirous  of  unity, 
and  more  open  to  conviction  than  his  opponent,  entered  on 
negotiations  with  the  Holy  See,  and,  through  his  envoys,  made 

1  " .  .  .  quoits  que  compressis  gentibus  ad  liber  tatem  onmes  sace?-dotes  concilii  sub 
sancta  republica  fiervenirent."  Words  used  by  the  Istrian  schismatics  in  591  in  a  letter 
to  the  Emperor.  Mansi,  10,  463  ;  Greg.,  Reg.,  1,  n.  16a  ;  cp.  Mommsen,  Neucs  Archiv, 
17,  189. 


no.  442]  SCHISM  OF  AQUILEIA  165 

a  statement,  duly  witnessed,  to  the  effect  that  he  renounced 
schism,  and  submitted  to  the  Roman  Church.1 

On  the  death  of  the  reconciled  Archbishop's  rival,  opposi- 
tion to  Rome  throughout  this  diocese  was  virtually  at  an  end. 
Lawrence  was  acknowledged  in  Milan  itself  by  the  remaining 
clergy,  and  his  successor  Constantius  also  proved  true  to  the  cause 
of  unity.2 

The  declaration  just  mentioned,  made  by  Lawrence  in  Rome, 
did  not  touch  the  question  of  the  Three  Chapters  ;  this  agrees 
with  what  we  have  already  explained  elsewhere  ;  communion  with 
the  Apostolic  See,  and  rejection  of  everything  which  it  rejected, 
was  deemed  sufficient,  such  a  formulary  comprehending  all  that 
was  necessary.  It  had  wisely  been  made  a  rule  no  longer  to 
broach  the  highly  involved,  and,  now,  scarcely  intelligible,  ques- 
tion of  the  Three  Chapters,  except  where  circumstances  made  it 
unavoidable. 

442.  On  the  other  hand,  the  schismatic  Bishops  of  North-east 
Italy,  and  particularly  the  titular  Archbishop  of  Aquileia,  stubbornly 
adhered  to  their  own  view  of  the  Three  Chapters.  The  Papal 
messengers  returned  from  Gradus  and  from  I  stria  without  any 
reply,  the  answer,  seemingly,  having  been  drawn  up  later  at  a 
Council.  In  due  course  delegates  from  the  Council  attended 
in  Rome,  and,  in  the  name  of  their  brethren,  handed  in  a  memo- 
randum. In  this  all  discussion  was  curtly  refused,  and  merely 
certain  inappropriate  passages  were  cited  from  ancient  church 
writers  to  prove  that  the  schismatics  were  right  in  their  attitude 
towards  the  Three  Chapters.  The  delegates  themselves  were 
not  men  of  education.  In  Rome  they  were  shown  documents, 
which,  had  they  been  capable  of  instruction,  would  have  convinced 
them  that  the  original  question  in  dispute  had  been  wrongly 
understood  in  Venetia  and  I  stria.  The  trouble  was,  however, 
wasted,  and  the  envoys  refused  to  be  persuaded.3 

In  spite  of  this  failure  the  Pope  sent,  in  585  or  586,  a  fresh 

1  Greg.,  Reg.,  4,  n.  2  ;  Jakke-Ewald,  n.  1273. 

2  Nokis,  Diss,  historica  de  Synodo  V.  {Opera,  ed.  1729,  t.  1),  694.  Lawrence  is  sup- 
posed to  have  died  on  August  21,  592.  Hefele  [Conciliengesch.,  2,  921  and  922)  by 
mistake  calls  his  successor  Constantine  instead  of  Constantius.  Cp.  Greg.,  Reg.,  4,  n.  2, 
to  Constantius,  and  4,  n.  37  (4,  n.  39),  also  to  him,  concerning  certain  Bishops  in  the 
diocese  of  Milan  who  still  had  scruples  about  the  union. 

3  Pelagius  in  his  second  letter  speaks  of  the  schismatics'  memorandum  as  an  "  inter- 
dictum"  pronounced  against  himself. 


1 66  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  442 


letter  to  Elias  and  his  Bishops.  In  this,  he  again  answers  in 
general  terms  the  objections  raised,  as  well  as  certain  other  ques- 
tions concerning  the  Three  Chapters.  Once  again,  and  with  still 
stronger  emphasis  and  paternal  affection,  he  showed  the  need  of 
returning  to  the  "  bosom  of  the  mother  "  :  "  Think  you,"  he  asks 
the  Bishops,  "that  in  the  Day  of  God's  Judgment,  Theodore  of 
Mopsuestia  or  Ibas  with  his  epistle  will  come  to  your  help  and 
save  you  ? "  He  several  times  cites  Cyprian  of  Carthage,  who 
speaks  so  strongly  of  communion  with  the  One  Church  as  a 
condition  for  salvation.  He  points  to  Augustine,  who  holds  that 
any  separation  from  the  "  Apostolic  Sees "  is  to  be  deplored. 
Now,  on  the  question  at  issue,  viz.  that  of  the  Three  Chapters, 
the  "  Apostolic  Sees,"  according  to  the  Pope,  agree  entirely  in 
both  doctrine  and  policy. 

This  allusion  to  the  "  Apostolic  Sees"  was  a  concession  to  the 
point  of  view  of  the  Pope's  adversaries,  whose  prejudices  against 
definitions  emanating  from  the  Roman  See  alone  were  so  strong.1 

In  this  letter  Pelagius  once  more  proposes  a  conference  in 
Rome,  attended  by  really  competent  men  chosen  from  among  the 
schismatic  Bishops.  Should  they,  however,  in  view  of  the  dangers 
consequent  upon  war,  prefer  Ravenna  as  the  place  of  meeting,  he 
is  quite  ready  to  send  representatives  there  to  meet  a  Council.2 

A  third  letter,  purporting  to  be  by  Pelagius  and  addressed  to 
the  same  Bishops,  is  also  preserved.  This  long  and  important 
document,  however,  seems  rather  to  have  been  a  memorandum 
intended  to  accompany  the  second  letter.  It  deals  at  great  length 
with  the  intricate  question  of  the  condemnation  of  the  Three 
Chapters,  which  was  again  and  again  being  brought  forward 
against  Rome.  Pelagius  had  entrusted  the  drafting  of  this  docu- 
ment, and  no  doubt  also  of  the  two  above-cited  letters,  to  his 

1  Langen  (Gesc/i.  der  rom.  Kirche,  2,  406,  410)  labours  to  show  that  the  Pope's 
appeal  to  the  Apostolic  Sees  implies  a  doubt  as  to  the  decisive  doctrinal  authority  of  the 
Pope  of  Rome.    See,  however,  above,  p.  41  f. 

2  Eliae  Agui/eiensi,  &c.  M ANSI,  9,  895  ;  P.L.,  LXXII.,  710  ;  Hartmann,  App.  III., 
n.  2,  p.  445  ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  1055.  As  belonging  to  St.  Cyprian  {De  unit,  eccl.), 
Pelagius  here  quotes,  among  others,  the  following  passages  :  "  Primatits  Petro  datur,  ut 
una  Christi  ecclcsia  et  cathedra  monstretur,"  and :  "  Qui  cathedram  Petri,  super  quant 
ecclesia  fundata  est,  deserit  et  resistit,  in  ecclesia  se  esse  confidit  ?  "  which  will  not  be  found 
in  the  genuine  works  of  Cyprian.  The  Pope  may  have  had  before  him  an  edition  of 
Cyprian  containing  these  interpolations,  or  the  passages  may  have  been  added  to  his 
own  letter  by  a  later  hand.  They  may,  moreover,  be  struck  out  without  any  damage  to 
the  argument,  for  the  other  passages  quoted  by  Pelagius  from  Cyprian  suffice  to  prove 
the  Pope's  contention.  On  the  quotations,  cp.  De  imitate  ecclesiae,  c.  4,  11,  13,  14,  17,  19, 
ed.  Hartf.L  {Corpus  script,  eccles.  /at.  ]lndob.,  3,  1). 


no.  443]  SCHISM  OF  AQUILEIA 


future  successor,  Gregory,  who  by  that  time  was  again  back  in 
Rome.  In  composing  the  memorandum  Gregory  utilised  the 
Lateran  archives,  and  thus  produced  the  best  summary  of  the 
question  which  has  come  down  to  us.  In  it  we  have  a  learned 
dissertation,  at  once  historical  and  theological,  impartially  setting 
forth  the  reasons  for  which  the  luckless  Chapters  were  con- 
demned.1 

More  than  this  the  Roman  Church  could  not  have  been 
expected  to  do. 

443.  The  Exarch  Smaragdus,  at  the  request  of  Pope  Pela- 
gius,  now  made  strong  representations  to  Elias  and  his  party, 
and  ordered  them  at  least  to  take  part  in  the  Council  to  be  held 
at  Ravenna.  Realising  that  the  intervention  of  the  secular  power 
might  have  serious  consequences  for  them,  the  schismatics  sent 
a  humble  petition  to  the  Emperor  Mauritius,  praying  that  the 
matter  might  be  allowed  to  stand  over  till  their  dioceses  had 
shaken  off  the  Lombard  yoke.  As  soon  as  this  was  accomplished, 
they  promised  to  betake  themselves  to  the  Court  at  Constantinople, 
and  there  await  judgment.  Meanwhile,  however,  they  trusted 
that  their  gracious  sovereign  would  command  the  Exarch  "  not 
to  molest  any  Bishop  on  account  of  Communion  (with  Rome)."2 

Soon  after  this  singular  appeal  to  the  supreme  secular  power 
in  586  or  587,  Elias,  the  usurping  Archbishop,  died.  His  suffra- 
gans lost  no  time,  and  elected,  to  use  their  own  words,  "for  the 
holy  Church  of  Aquileia,  the  most  blessed  Archbishop  Severus."  3 

Smaragdus,  the  Exarch,  was,  however,  determined,  nor  did 
any  letter  of  respite  arrive  from  Constantinople  to  thwart  his 
action.  Hence,  in  conformity  with  the  law  of  the  Christian 
Empire,  he  proceeded  to  Gradus,  and  there  arrested  the  pretended 
Archbishop,  together  with  some  other  Bishops,  and  brought  them 
captives  to  Ravenna.    Could  we  but  trust  the  accounts  of  the 

1  Eliae  Aquileiensi,  &c.  Mansi,  9,433;  P.L.,  LXXII.,715  ;  Hartmann,  App.  III., 
n.  3,  p.  449  ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  1056.  Paul.  Diac,  Hist.  Lang.,  3,  c.  20 :  " epistolam 
satis  utilem  misit,  quam  beatus  Gregorins,  cum  esse/  adhuc  diaconus,  conscripsit."  Cp. 
Greg.,  Reg.,  2,  n.  49  (2,  n.  51),  where  the  letter  is  called  a  "liber."  Langen  (I.e.,  p.  406) 
has  it  that  Gregory  the  Great  composed  all  three  letters  of  Pelagius  to  the  schismatics. 
We  may  state  here  that  Langen  wrongly  cites  "Paul.  Diac,  Hist,  misc.,  III.,  2,"  for 
Gregory's  journey  to  Constantinople,  nor  is  this  the  only  mistake  made  by  this  writer  in 
his  quotations.  The  Hist.  misc.  is  not  by  Paulus  Diaconus,  nor  does  it  contain  the  pas- 
sage in  question  at  the  place  referred  to,  nor  anywhere  else.  Even  had  it  contained  it, 
it  would  have  been  worthless  as  a  proof,  for  the  work  is  both  late  and  uncritical. 

2  From  the  letter  cited  p.  164,  note  1. 

3  Ibid. 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.444 


schismatics,  their  chief  Bishop  was  even  beaten  with  staves.  At 
any  rate,  it  is  correct  that  he  and  his  supporters  were  sternly 
ordered  to  enter  into  communion  with  John,  the  Archbishop 
of  Ravenna,  an  act  which  would  naturally  have  brought  them 
part  of  the  way  to  Rome.  As  they  refused  to  do  so,  they  were 
kept  in  prison. 

After  the  lapse  of  a  year  Severus,  by  signing  a  union  for- 
mulary, obtained  permission  to  return  to  his  See.  In  consequence 
of  this  act  his  supporters  refused  to  have  any  dealings  with  him, 
and  he  finally  withdrew  his  subscription  at  a  Synod  of  ten  Bishops 
held  at  Murano,  near  Venice.  This  Synod  took  place  between  the 
end  of  588  and  beginning  of  590. 

In  589  the  zealous  Exarch  Smaragdus  lost  his  post,  and  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  the  persistent  complaints  of  the  schismatics  at 
Court  may  have  contributed  to  his  downfall.  At  least  it  is  certain 
that  the  Exarch  Romanus,  who  succeeded  him  at  Ravenna  in 
589-590,  after  the  short  administration  of  the  Exarch  Julian,  held 
different  views,  and  was  less  opposed  to  the  Bishops'  party. 

The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  Constantinople  preferred,  in 
view  of  the  political  situation,  to  leave  the  schism  alone,  in  spite 
of  its  being  contrary  to  law.  This  was  clearly  proved  when 
Gregory  the  Great,  who  succeeded  Pelagius  on  the  Papal  throne, 
and  was  supported  by  the  sovereign,  cited  Severus  and  other 
episcopal  ringleaders  to  account  for  themselves  in  Rome  before 
a  Synod.  This  was  in  January  591,  and  the  truce  which  followed 
Authari's  death  (September  5,  590)  had  made  possible  the  journey 
to  Rome,  or  at  least  had  deprived  the  schismatics  of  the  excuse 
of  dangers  to  be  incurred.  Nevertheless  they  chose  to  refuse  the 
invitation,  and,  instead,  held  two  Synods  in  their  own  dioceses,  at 
both  of  which  it  was  unanimously  agreed  to  make  fresh  repre- 
sentations to  the  Emperor.  Those  of  the  Bishops  who  belonged 
to  the  districts  still  occupied  by  the  Lombards  assembled  in 
Gradus,  under  the  presidency  of  Severus.  The  rest  of  the 
Bishops  met  at  some  place  unknown. 

444.  The  two  pseudo-Synods  despatched  by  the  hand  of  clerics 
petitions  in  defence  of  their  schism  to  the  Emperor.  That  sent 
by  the  Bishops  in  the  Lombard  sphere  of  influence  has  alone 
been  preserved.  Its  authors  call  themselves  "  Bishops  of  Venetia 
and  Rhsetia  Secunda,"  and  their  letter  is  equally  noteworthy  for 


no. 444]  SCHISM  OF  AQUILEIA 


its  fulsome  deference  to  the  Emperor  and  for  the  veiled  political 
threats  which  it  conveys.1 

We  again  find  here  the  promise  that,  as  soon  as  the  enemy  have 
been  expelled,  the  Bishops  will  betake  themselves  to  the  Emperor's 
Majesty  in  order  to  be  judged  by  him.  "God  ever  deigns  to 
end  ecclesiastical  controversies  as  soon  as  they  are  brought  before 
a  Christian  sovereign."  They  endeavour  to  show  that  the  Pope, 
being  himself  biassed,  could  give  no  decision.  Our  people,  so 
they  urge,  must  not  be  embittered,  otherwise  if  one  of  us  comes 
to  die  they  will  prevent  his  successor  from  seeking  consecration  in 
Gradus  ;  then  recourse  will  have  to  be  had  to  the  neighbouring 
Gaulish  Archbishops,  and  the  province  of  Aquileia  will  perish, 
and  that  at  a  time  when,  in  view  of  the  state  of  things  in  Italy, 
union  would  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  Empire.  The  Gaulish 
Bishops  have  already  occupied  three  Sees  in  this  Province, 
namely,  the  ecclesia  Beconensis,  Tiburniensis,  and  Augustana. 
Hence,  seeing  the  awkward  position  of  public  affairs,  we  venture 
to  hope  that  the  Emperor  will  prevent  Papal  measures  being 
taken  against  us.    Thus  wrote  the  petitioners. 

The  ecclesia  Tiburniensis  is  Debern  in  Lurnfeld  (Carinthia)  ; 
Augustana  is  probably  Augsburg,  Beconensis  is  perhaps  Pettau  or 
Salzburg.  The  names  and  places  appearing  upon  the  document 
deserve  notice.  Ingenuinus  ecclesiae  Sabionensis  (Seben-Brixen), 
Maxentius  Iuliensis  (Zuglio  near  Tolmezzo  in  the  Province  of 
Udine),  Laurentius  Bellunatae  (Belluno),  Augustus  Concordiensis 
(Concordia,  near  Mirandola),  Agnellus  Treientinae  (Trent),  Agnel- 
lus  Acelinae  (Asolo  in  the  Province  of  Treviso),  Junior  Veronensis 
(Verona),  Fonteius  Feltrinae  (Feltre),  Felix  Tervisianae  (Treviso), 
Horontius  Vicentinae  (Vicenza). 

The  answer  of  the  Emperor  Mauritius  was  a  letter  sent  to  the 
Pope  in  591,  in  which  the  latter  is  commanded  not  to  "disturb 
the  Bishops  of  the  Istrian  Provinces,"  but  to  leave  them  alone 
until  peace  is  re-established  in  the  land  of  Italy,  and  the  whole 
Church  province  again  restored  to  the  Roman  Empire.2 

Hence  the  schismatics  were,  for  the  nonce,  victorious. 

Meanwhile  the  anticipated  overthrow  of  the  Lombards  and 

1  The  letter  is  cited  on  p.  164,  note  1.  The  Emperor  speaks  of  the  authors  as  "  epis- 
copi  civitatum  et  castrorum,  qitos  Latigobardi  tcnere  ditioscuntur"  ;  see  his  letter  to 
Gregory  the  Great,  Reg.,  1,  n.  i6h;  cp.  Mom.msen,  Neues  Archiv,  17,  189;  Mansi,  10, 
467.    Cp.  Hefele,  2,  919  ff. 

2  See  previous  note. 


170 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.444 


the  restoration  of  the  subjugated  provinces  to  the  Empire 
remained  a  dream.  The  political  outlook  for  the  Byzantines, 
instead  of  improving,  grew  worse.  Many  of  the  separated 
Bishops,  taught  by  sad  experience,  changed  their  attitude  and 
sought  reunion  with  Rome.  Some  of  the  ten  names  mentioned 
above  belong  to  Bishops  who  were  eventually  highly  esteemed  by 
the  Catholics  of  their  regions,  and  whose  subsequent  reconciliation 
with  Rome  may  therefore  be  assumed.  What  was  then  of  most 
consequence  was  to  heal  the  wounds  of  war,  and  to  make  the  new 
political  situation,  which  now  had  come  to  stay,  more  endurable 
by  converting  the  Lombards.  These  urgent,  practical  tasks 
turned  the  thoughts  of  the  Bishops  from  dreary  discussions 
regarding  the  Three  Chapters.  It  opened  a  wide  field  for 
charity,  and  it  was  Catholic  charity  which  slowly  and  gradually 
healed  the  breach  which  had  so  unnecessarily  added  a  spiritual 
misfortune  to  the  dreadful  hardships  of  the  age. 


PROGRESSIVE  DECLINE  OF  CIVIL  ORDER 
AND  ROMAN  CULTURE— SIGNS  OF  LIFE 
IN  THE  ROMAN  CHURCH 


CHAPTER  I 


DECLINE   AND   COLLAPSE   OF   CIVIL  LIFE 

Byzantium — North  Africa — Mohammed 

445.  The  close  of  the  ancient  Roman  World  is  marked  by  deep 
shadows  resulting  from  the  irreparable  injuries  wrought  in  public 
affairs  both  within  and  without  the  Empire  by  outward  misfor- 
tunes and  by  the  growth  of  old-standing  internal  abuses. 

Impending  ruin  came  steadily  nearer.  On  the  one  hand, 
barbarism  and  tyranny,  unbridled  force,  and  love  of  war  were 
predominant  in  the  fresh  political  combinations  which  were  being 
formed  in  the  West  upon  the  wreck  of  the  ancient  structure. 
Of  this  the  Lombard  rule  in  Italy  was  the  most  terrible  instance. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  the  Roman,  or,  rather,  Byzantine  Empire, 
obsolete  systems  and  outworn  forms  continued  to  be  observed,  of 
which  the  only  purpose  was  self-interest,  and  the  sole  result  the 
dissolution  of  the  great  family  of  nations. 

To  realise  the  impotence  of  the  huge  Byzantine  Empire,  we 
have  only  to  think  of  its  utter  helplessness  at  the  time  of  the 
Lombard  incursions ;  the  lack  of  united  action  on  the  part  of 
the  civil  officials  and  military  commanders  in  Italy ;  the  want 
of  plan  and  of  any  understanding  of  the  social  needs  of  the 
country  and  of  the  efforts  of  the  Church  ;  in  a  word,  the  political 
and  social  feebleness  of  the  Government  in  a  province  of  such 
immense  importance  to  the  Empire,  the  very  Pearl  of  the  West. 
We  can  well  foresee  how  utterly  unable  it  will  be  to  cope  with  the 
inroads  of  Mohammedanism. 

Another  disturbing  factor  was  the  uncertainty  of  the  succes- 
sion to  the  throne  both  in  the  Empire  and  in  the  countries 
outside  it.  This  struck  at  the  vitals  of  State  coherence,  and 
foreboded  ill  for  union  and  internal  strength.  Where  the  highest 
authority  is  constantly  exposed  to  violence  in  its  transmission,  the 
political  ground  becomes  unstable. 

Paying  closer  attention  to  these  premonitory  symptoms  of  the 

'73 


*74 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.446 


general  downfall  of  the  political  world,  we  obtain  a  yet  clearer 
view  of  the  Church's  action  and  of  the  power  displayed  by  her  at 
this  juncture.  The  Church  was  the  only  institution  not  convulsed 
by  the  overthrow  of  the  ancient  world.  On  the  contrary,  she 
progressively  unfolded  new  organisations  for  the  salvation  of 
spiritual  goods,  strengthening  her  hold  by  increasing  the  authority 
of  the  Bishops,  and  above  all  of  the  See  of  Rome.  There,  in  the 
Eternal  City,  in  which  lies  the  fate  of  all  nations,  she  worked, 
little  by  little,  replacing  the  crumbling  political  coalition  by  a 
union  based  on  religion. 

446.  In  the  rotten  Byzantine  Empire,  uncertainty  in  the 
succession  to  the  throne  was  an  evil  of  long  standing.  At 
Byzantium,  for  160  years,  from  450  to  610,  no  son  ever  succeeded 
his  father ;  on  two  occasions  the  succession  fell  to  nephews,  and 
on  two  occasions  likewise  to  sons-in-law.  Otherwise  the  crown 
was  in  the  bestowal  of  the  army  or  of  the  scheming  women  and 
eunuchs  of  the  palace. 

When  Justin  L,  in  518,  desired  to  become  Emperor,  he  had 
to  bribe  the  Imperial  body-guard  with  the  same  amount  as  he 
had  himself  accepted  for  promoting  the  cause  of  another  candidate 
for  the  throne. 

When  his  sister's  enterprising  son,  Justinian,  had  obtained 
the  reins  of  power,  he  did  not  scruple  to  disgrace  the  crown  by 
requiring  all,  throughout  the  Empire,  to  take  the  oath  of  fealty 
to  Theodora,  his  wife,  a  former  actress  and  prostitute,  now  his 
consort  on  the  throne.  In  spite  of  the  glamour  of  his  conquests 
and  the  fame  of  his  legislation,  Justinian  succeeded  in  restoring 
very  little  of  its  vanished  spirit  to  the  body  of  the  State.  The 
fate  of  the  countries  conquered  by  this  Emperor  was  not  enviable, 
sucked  dry  as  they  were  by  extortionate  and  tyrannical  bureaucrats. 

No  improvement  occurred  under  his  immediate  successors. 
Justin  II.  was  too  old,  and  too  helpless  in  the  hands  of  his  wife, 
Sophia,  to  arrest  the  disorders  among  his  officials ;  he  did  nothing 
to  restore  the  finances  or  to  reduce  the  exorbitant  taxation  ;  nor 
did  he  hinder  the  sale  of  pardons  to  malefactors,  and  the  putting 
up  to  auction  of  public  offices.  In  the  Imperial  army  barbarian 
recruits  were  being  admitted  in  ever-increasing  numbers,  for  the 
absence  of  regular  pay  was  no  inducement  to  subjects  to  take  up 
a  military  career. 


No.  447] 


NORTH  AFRICA 


175 


The  Emperor  Tiberius,  the  husband  of  Sophia's  daughter, 
who  ascended  the  Imperial  throne  in  578,  was  a  valiant  soldier. 
A  Thracian  accustomed  to  war,  he  stopped  the  Persians,  whose 
advance  had  struck  the  Empire  with  terror  ;  but  the  long  wars 
he  had  to  wage  were  unfavourable  to  the  improvement  of 
conditions  at  home. 

Finally  Mauritius,  husband  of  Tiberius's  daughter,  Constantina, 
may  with  even  better  right  be  called  a  strong  and  capable  ruler. 
Yet  in  his  case,  too,  the  advantages  gained  were  principally  of  a 
military  order.  He  secured  the  capital  of  the  Byzantine  Empire 
against  the  Avars,  who,  since  the  departure  of  the  Lombards, 
had  established  themselves  in  the  long  stretch  of  country  between 
Constantinople  and  what  is  now  called  Belgrad.  The  victory  at 
Adrianople  in  587,  and  the  death  of  Baian,  the  dreaded  King  of 
the  Avars  (602),  crowned  the  success  of  the  Emperor  Mauritius. 
Subsequently,  however,  in  his  efforts  to  save  expenditure  he 
issued  an  edict  which  brought  his  reign  to  a  sanguinary  end. 
The  soldiers  refused  to  allow  the  cost  of  their  arms  and  uniforms 
to  be  deducted  from  their  pay.  They  raised  the  brutal,  cruel, 
centurion  Phocas  to  the  throne,  and  Mauritius,  together  with  his 
family,  was  barbarously  done  to  death  in  his  own  capital. 

That  the  Empire  held  together,  in  spite  of  all  the  storms 
within  and  without,  is  to  some  extent  due  to  its  own  inertia.  Its 
frame  was  too  huge  and  the  conservatism  of  the  vast  mass  was 
too  powerful,  to  allow  of  an  immediate  collapse.  It  is  a  testi- 
mony to  the  genius  enshrined  in  Roman  institutions  that  they 
should  have  existed  so  long,  and  that  the  Byzantine  Empire, 
in  spite  of  its  hopeless  internal  corruption,  did  not  fall  to  pieces 
sooner. 

447.  If  we  turn  from  Constantinople  to  the  once  flourishing 
Provinces  of  North  Africa,  we  find  the  ruins  caused  by  wars 
waged  there  by  the  Empire,  and  by  maladministration. 

It  certainly  was  a  dazzling  triumph  when,  in  533,  Belisarius, 
after  the  overthrow  of  the  Vandal  kingdom,  brought  its  King 
Gelimer  as  a  captive  in  his  train  to  the  Hippodrome  at  Con- 
stantinople. With  the  King  were  the  leading  Vandals,  arrayed 
in  all  their  finery,  and  all  the  incalculable  treasures  of  Carthage 
— that  booty  which  the  Vandals  had  once  wrenched  from  Rome 
and  the  rich  cities  of  the  Mediterranean.     The  Roman  palace  of 


176 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  447 


the  Palatine  now  restored  to  the  throne  of  Byzantium  the  Imperial 
furniture  carried  off  by  the  Vandals. 

Yet,  however  loud  the  shouts  of  triumph  might  resound 
through  the  Hippodrome,  a  long  period  of  great  distress  was 
now  beginning  both  for  the  Roman  inhabitants  of  the  North- 
African  provinces  and  for  such  of  the  Vandals  as  had  not  enlisted 
in  the  army.  Procopius  tells  us  of  repeated  risings  of  the 
oppressed  inhabitants,  acting  conjointly  with  the  Moors,  who  had 
been  angered  by  the  bad  faith  of  the  Byzantines.  He  also  gives 
some  fearful  accounts  of  the  devastations,  bloodshed,  and  pillage. 
His  work  on  the  fall  of  the  Vandals  ends  with  the  following 
words  :  "  The  population  of  Africa  was  frightfully  reduced.  A 
few  only  were  left.  After  great  tribulations,  they  had  indeed 
secured  peace,  but  all  were  beggars."  1 

Both  from  the  ecclesiastical  and  the  political  point  of  view,  the 
blow  struck  at  North  Africa  by  what  it  had  undergone  was  too 
severe  to  allow  these  regions,  which  had  been  with  so  much 
difficulty  reduced  to  order,  ever  to  become  prosperous  again. 
Exhaustion  and  depopulation  rendered  it  easy  in  the  next  century 
for  Arab  hordes  to  overrun  the  provinces,  and,  in  698,  Carthage 
passed  under  the  yoke  of  the  Moslem. 

The  movement  stirred  up  by  Mohammed  was  to  be  a  new 
and  frightful  scourge  for  the  Byzantine  Empire.  Its  fanati- 
cism, to  which  it  owed  its  irresistible  power,  was  directed  against 
all  surrounding  countries  which  bore  the  name  of  Christian. 
Mohammed,  with  his  pretended  revelations  and  his  blind  hatred 
of  Christian  civilisation,  came  to  complete  the  misfortunes  of  the 
period  which  had  begun  with  the  invasion  of  the  barbarians.  His 
warrior  hosts,  recruited  from  the  deserts,  did  on  the  eastern  borders 
of  the  Byzantine  territories  what  the  barbarians  of  the  North  had 
done  in  the  Western  Roman  Empire.  The  barbarians,  however, 
in  course  of  time  bowed  down  before  the  Cross,  and  made  peace 
with  their  new  subjects,  whose  civilisation  they  adopted.  On  the 
other  hand,  Mohammed  and  his  disciples  stood  for  the  denial  of 
the  Christian  faith,  against  all  admixture  with  its  supporters,  and 
for  the  destruction  of  all  Christian  ethics. 

Mohammedan  morality  was  mere  sensuality,  its  only  civilisa- 
tion was  that  of  the  fanatic's  sword,  and  its  tenets,  which  denied 


1  De  bello  vandalico,  2,  c.  28. 


No.  44S] 


SPAIN 


177 


the  Trinity,  and  the  divinity  of  Christ,  were  the  negation  of 
all  that  formed  the  religious  foundation  upon  which  the  world 
was  established. 

The  birth  of  the  anti-Christian  prophet  occurred  somewhere 
about  the  year  570,  hence  at  a  time  when  Gregory  the  Great, 
who  was  to  be  the  strongest  realisation  of  the  saving  and 
restoring  power  of  the  Church  in  early  mediaeval  ages,  was 
yet  in  his  youth. 


Spain — The  Frankish  Realms — England 

448.  Continuing  our  survey,  we  find  in  Spain,  towards  the 
end  of  the  sixth  century,  the  gifted  nation  of  the  Visigoths  on 
the  point  of  entering  the  Church. 

Before  their  conversion,  however,  the  ancient  enmity  between 
the  Arian  intruders  and  the  Latin  population  once  more  asserted 
itself,  and  led  to  a  sharp  persecution.  King  Leuvigild,  who 
deserves  the  name  of  a  cruel  persecutor,  was  a  distinguished 
soldier  in  the  field  and  famous  for  his  strength  as  a  ruler.  His 
constant  aim  was  to  break  the  might  of  the  Byzantines  in  the 
country,  and  he  did  in  fact  expel  them  from  all  their  possessions 
save  from  a  few  seaports  to  the  south  and  east.  His  home 
policy  was,  however,  less  well  advised,  and  clearly  proved  how 
impossible  it  was  to  establish  the  Visigothic  nation  on  any  other 
basis  than  that  of  the  one  true  religion  and  of  submission  to  the 
Church  of  Peter. 

Leuvigild  sought  to  attain  his  object  by  laying  undue  stress 
on  the  monarchical  principle,  and  on  these  lines  he  enacted  fresh 
laws.  Regal  pomp  was  his  delight.  He  was  wont  to  appear  in 
the  Imperial  purple,  and,  when  surrounded  by  his  nobles,  to  be 
seated  on  a  lofty  throne.  He  also  tried  to  make  his  monarchy 
hereditary,  as  the  want  of  any  settled  order  of  succession  to  the 
throne  had  been  bitterly  felt  in  the  country.  On  account  of  the 
turbulence  of  the  nobles  the  succession  was  not  only  insecure,  but 
was  almost  always  an  occasion  for  bloodshed.  Amalric,  Theudes, 
Theudegesil,  and  Agila,  all  of  them  kings,  had  each  in  turn  been 
murdered.  Gregory  of  Tours  exclaims  in  horror:  "There  it  is 
now  the  custom  that  whoso  wishes  to  be  kino-  must  murder  his 
predecessor."  Leuvigild  himself  was  the  brother  of  King  Liuva, 
VOL.  III.  m 


178  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  449 


to  whom  Athanagild,  who,  in  567,  had,  strange  to  relate,  died  a 
natural  death,  bequeathed  the  throne.1 

In  order,  therefore,  to  defeat  the  old  elective  principle,  and 
keep  the  crown  in  his  own  family,  Leuvigild,  in  572,  assumed  as 
co-regents  the  two  sons  of  his  first  marriage,  Hermenegild  and 
Reccared.  At  the  same  time  he  took  steps  to  encourage  the 
profession  of  Arianism,  which  he  fancied  would  help  to  knit 
together  the  kingdom.  Hermenegild  was,  however,  won  over  to 
Catholicism  by  his  wife,  Ingunda,  an  Austrasian,  and  soon  became 
the  centre  of  the  struggle  between  Arians  and  Catholics. 

Goswintha,  the  King's  second  wife,  was  the  person  mainly 
responsible  for  the  fierce  persecution  which  followed. 

A  Reign  of  Terror  now  began  for  the  Latins  who  remained 
faithful  to  their  Church,  and  for  all  who,  like  Hermenegild, 
endeavoured  to  protect  them.  Against  the  Catholics  King 
Leuvigild  made  use  of  the  weapons  of  exile,  pillage,  and 
starvation.  Nothing  but  apostasy  would  satisfy  the  sovereign. 
Just  as  in  the  days  of  the  first  martyrs,  sung  so  touchingly  by 
the  Spaniard  Prudentius,  the  public  prisons  were  again  thronged. 
Many  were  scourged  and  died  under  torture.  Even  Bishops 
were  seized  and  maltreated,  most  of  them  being  driven  into 
exile.  At  the  same  time  every  snare  was  set  to  tempt  the 
Catholics,  and  promises,  added  to  fear,  were,  unfortunately,  not 
without  result. 

Hermenegild  was  ultimately  executed  by  his  royal  father,  but 
sufficient  blood  had  now  flowed,  and  Leuvigild's  son,  Reccared, 
lost  no  time  in  seeking  a  better  foundation  for  the  distracted  and 
almost  ruined  kingdom  of  the  Visigoths.  He  set  the  example 
of  conversion,  and,  by  wise  measures,  gradually  brought  the  bulk 
of  his  people  into  the  pale  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

449.  The  position  of  matters  in  Gaul  during  the  sixth 
century  did  not  differ  materially  from  that  in  Spain.  There 
was  there  the  same  uncertainty  concerning  the  newly  founded 
thrones,  the  same  political  upheavals,  and  the  same  pretension 
to  power  on  the  part  of  the  Merovingian  kinglets,  who,  to 
quote  a  leading  German  historian,  "might  well  have  been 
Byzantine  Emperors  or  despots  of  the  East."  2 

1  Greg.  Tur.,  Hist.  Franc,  3,  c.  30,  speaks  of  regicide  as  popular  among  the  Goths  : 
"  Sumpserunt  enim  Gothi  hanc  detestabilem  consuetudinem ,"  &c. 

2  G.  Waitz,  Deutsche  Verfassungsgesch? ,  2,  1,  198. 


NO.  449] 


GAUL 


179 


In  Gaul,  indeed,  the  Church  was  not  hampered  by  Arianism. 
Sovereign  and  subject  professed  Catholicism.  The  ancient 
Catholic  bishoprics  were  still  in  existence,  Councils  were  held, 
and  monasteries  were  rising  in  great  numbers. 

Yet  the  Church  lacked  liberty  and  a  congenial  atmosphere. 
The  Bishops  were  some  of  them  feeble  and  worldly,  and  they 
were  fettered  in  their  action  by  the  interference  of  the  Kings. 
It  had  gradually  become  the  custom  for  the  monarchs,  them- 
selves utterly  unlettered  men,  to  rule  their  country's  Church. 
Here,  less  than  anywhere  else,  were  the  oppressed  and  sub- 
servient clergy  capable  of  doing  justice  to  the  social  problems 
of  the  day. 

The  splitting  up  of  Chlodovec's  great  monarchy  into  four 
parts,  an  event  which  followed  his  death  in  511,  and  the  fierce 
dissensions  prevailing  in  the  Merovingian  royal  family,  readily 
paved  the  way  for  despotism  on  the  part  of  the  sovereign,  law- 
lessness on  that  of  the  people,  and  for  deterioration  in  the  body 
clerical.  It  is  true  that  the  separated  portions  of  the  Frankish 
kingdom  were  again  united  in  558  under  Chlotar  I.,  but  only 
for  four  years.  After  this  King's  death  a  fresh  division  among 
his  sons  again  led  to  the  establishment  of  four  kingdoms,  of 
Austrasia  under  Siegbert  I.,  of  Burgundy  under  Guntram,  of 
Neustria  under  Chilperic  I.,  and  of  Paris  under  Charibert. 
The  latter,  however,  on  the  early  death  of  its  sovereign,  was 
divided  among  his  three  remaining  brothers. 

Of  the  three,  Chilperic  I.  was  a  good  specimen  of  that 
overbearing  and  cruel  character  so  often  found  among  the  Mero- 
vingians.  He  was  a  libertine,  like  others  of  his  royal  rank, 
but  none  revelled  more  than  he  in  the  intoxication  of  feeling 
supreme.  He  wished  to  ape  the  greatest  of  the  ancient 
Emperors.  Not  only  did  he  drape  his  shoulders  with  the 
Imperial  purple  and  sit  in  a  curule  chair,  but  he  also  dictated 
verses  like  Nero,  imposed  taxes  like  Justinian,  and  even  added 
to  the  alphabet  several  new  letters  of  his  own  invention. 
Books,  written  ages  before,  he  had  erased  with  pumice-stone 
and  corrected.  In  a  sudden  freak  he  passed  a  law  compelling 
all  the  Jews  in  his  kingdom  to  be  baptized  on  a  certain  day. 
Any  one  who  dared  to  oppose  his  will  was  sure  of  being 
despoiled  of  his  belongings ;  the  refractory  had  their  houses 
pulled  down,  their  fields  and  vineyards  destroyed.  Anything 


i8o 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  450 


which  recalled  his  father,  whom  he  hated,  he  could  not  bear 
to  see  standing.  He  reviled  the  Bishops,  and  such  courtiers 
as  ventured  to  expostulate  were  threatened  with  the  loss  of 
their  eyes.  Gregory,  Bishop  of  Tours,  his  contemporary,  com- 
pares for  cruelty  his  long  reign  of  three-and-twenty  years  with 
those  of  Nero  and  Herod.1 

This  same  Bishop,  one  of  the  few  brave  and  zealous 
members  of  the  Frankish  Episcopate,  was  forced  personally 
to  oppose  King  Chilperic  when  the  latter,  in  his  presumption, 
trenched  upon  the  domain  of  dogma  and  impugned  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  urging  that  to  admit  Three  Persons  was  in- 
consistent. The  Bishop  of  Albia  (Albi)  gave  his  support  to 
his  brother  of  Tours,  declaring  that  he  was  ready  to  rend  the 
obnoxious  decree  before  the  King's  eyes." 

Some  of  the  atrocities  with  which  Chilperic  is  charged  must 
partly  be  laid  to  the  account  of  that  fury,  Fredegunda,  who 
married  him  as  her  last  husband.  Nevertheless  his  own  readi- 
ness to  spill  blood,  and  his  murders,  were  so  notorious  that 
Gregory  of  Tours,  when  relating  his  tragic  end,  scarcely  con- 
ceals his  satisfaction  at  the  death  of  one  whose  many  crimes 
had  long  seemed  deserving  of  such  a  fate. 

450.  Fredegunda  now  went  to  Paris,  and  put  herself  under 
the  protection  of  King  Guntram.  But  Childebert  of  Austrasia,  her 
deadly  enemy,  sent  an  embassy  to  Guntram  with  the  demand, 
in  itself  alone  descriptive  of  those  unhappy  years  in  Gaul  : 
"  Hand  me  that  woman,  that  evil-doer  who  slew  my  aunt,  my 
father,  my  uncle,  and  my  nephews."  These  were  but  a  few  of 
the  victims  sacrificed  to  the  ambition  and  hatred  of  this  woman, 
who  had  risen  to  the  throne  from  the  rank  of  a  servant.  She 
stood  alone  in  cunning  and  cruelty.  She  may,  indeed,  be  com- 
pared to  the  famous  Brunhilda  of  Austrasia,  so  far  as  craft  and 
resolution  were  concerned,  but  impartial  history  knows  Brunhilda 
to  have  been  far  less  steeped  in  crime. 

1  GREG.  TUR.,  Hist.  Franc,  5,  c.  45,  criticises  Chilperic's  poetry  rather  severely  : 
"  Vcrsiculi  illi  nulli penihts  metricae  conveniunt  rationi"  Ibid,  on  the  correction  of  the 
books  :  "  id  sic  libri  antiquities  scripti,  planati  pumice,  rescriderentur."  On  the  King's 
cruelty,  ibid.,  6,  c.  46  :  "Nero  nostri  te?nporis  et  Herodes."  Waitz  justly  observes  that 
Chilperic's  government  was  most  un-German. 

2  GREG.  Tur.,  5,  c.  45,  says  of  the  King's  foolish  efforts  to  reform  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity  :  "  Chilpericus  rex  scripsit  indiculum,  ut  sancta  Trinitas  non  in  personarum  dis- 
tinctione  sed  tantum  Deus  nominaretur  .  .  .  affirmans  etiam  ipsuiu  esse  Patrem,  qui  est 
Filius,  itemque  ipsum  esse  Spirituin  sanctum,  qui  Pater  et  Filius." 


NO.  450] 


GAUL 


181 


Guntram,  Fredegunda's  protector  in  Paris,  was  one  of  the 
sovereigns  least  implicated  in  deeds  of  violence ;  at  any  rate 
he  made  some  effort  to  atone  for  his  outbursts  of  tyranny  and 
rage  by  good  works,  and  especially  pious  foundations.  So  far 
removed  was  he,  however,  from  the  conception  of  a  wise  and 
moderate  ruler,  that,  for  instance,  he  exterminated  the  family 
of  a  disgraced  nobleman  to  the  ninth  degree  of  kinship  to 
protect  himself  from  the  vengeance  of  any  relative. 

When  Guntram  took  possession  of  Paris  (584)  his  appeal  to 
the  people  assembled  in  the  church  was  in  the  following  significant 
words  :  "  I  beg  of  you  all,  men  and  women,  assembled  here 
to-day,  break  not  your  oath  of  fealty  and  slay  me  not,  as  you 
lately  did  my  brothers."  In  the  following  year,  the  nobles  who 
lamented  the  condition  of  affairs  presented  a  petition  to  the 
King,  in  which,  among  other  things,  they  say  openly  :  "  The 
people  are  sunk  in  vice,  and  each  one  does  what  he  pleases. 
No  one  fears  the  King,  nor  has  any  respect  for  princes  and 
counts.  If  any  one  tries  to  improve  matters,  he  at  once  meets 
opposition  and  violence.  Those  only  are  safe  who  hold  their 
tongues  and  let  things  go  their  way."1 

The  descendants  of  the  great  Chlodovec  were  but  a  puny 
race.  They  were  unfit  to  govern  themselves,  let  alone  the 
realm.  They  were  unable  to  stem  the  turbulence  of  the  nobles 
and  the  lawlessness  of  the  masses.  They  were  constantly  risking 
their  thrones  through  caprice  and  cruelty,  and,  instead  of  utilising 
the  Church  for  the  benefit  of  their  subjects,  hampered  her  by 
jealousy  and  tyranny.  The  decline  of  the  ancient  world  is  writ 
with  blood  in  the  history  of  those  Gallic  provinces,  once  so 
forward  in  civilisation  and  culture. 

Amidst  all  these  sad  signs  of  the  times  the  observer  is, 
however,  comforted  by  the  knowledge  that  the  disorder  and 
unsettlement  was  largely  confined  to  the  sovereigns  and  nobility. 
It  is  clear  that  the  people  generally,  in  their  humble  way,  sought 
to  hold  fast  to  the  true  treasure  of  the  nation — to  their  inherited 
morality,  honesty,  and  love  of  work,  and  the  practices  of  religion. 
This  can  be  seen  from  numerous  little  incidents  from  Frankish 
home  life,  with  which  the  Bishop  of  Tours  has  interspersed  his 
narratives.    The  same  writer  has  also  left  us  edifying  pictures  of 

1  Greg.  Tur.,  7,  c.  8,  Guntram's  speech  :  " Mihifidem  inviolatam  servare  dignemini, 
7iec  mc,  nt  f rat  res  meos  nuper  fccis/is,  intercniatis."    The  nobles'  petition,  ibid.,  8,  c.  30. 


l82 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No. 451 


saintly  men  and  women  who  sustained  the  inhabitants  of  the 
country  during  the  disturbances  of  the  age,  and  who,  by  the 
wonders  they  worked  and  by  their  teaching,  brightened  with 
wholesome  light  the  darkness  of  those  years.  To  whom  save 
unto  such  did  the  Frankish  nation  owe  that  inward  force  which 
in  later  times  fitted  it  for  such  great  deeds  ? 1 

451.  In  England,  too,  Roman  rule  was  to  be  engulfed  amid  a 
storm  of  misfortune  and  distress,  while  the  new  Germanic  system 
of  government  was  to  prevail  only  after  much  civil  war  and  many 
excesses  on  the  part  of  the  chiefs.  Here,  too,  we  find  remnants 
of  early  culture,  mingled  with  the  barbarity  and  heathen  savagery 
of  the  invaders.  Christian  civilisation,  which  had  early  made  its 
way  here,  now  flickered  dimly  and  threatened  soon  to  be  entirely 
extinguished. 

The  Angles,  Jutes,  and  Saxons,  under  Hengist  and  Horsa, 
mere  hardy  warriors  and  seamen  so  graphically  described  by 
Sidonius  Apollinaris,  made  short  work  of  the  ancient  Britons,  and 
of  what  Roman  civilisation  still  existed  in  the  land,  but  they  were 
utterly  unable  to  re-establish  the  country  on  a  better  footing. 
Civilisation  and  morality  were  driven  into  the  fastnesses  of 
Wales,  where  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  maintained  their  inde- 
pendence, their  language,  their  religion,  and  their  old  customs. 
In  the  conquered  southern  portion  of  Britain,  amidst  the  ruins 
of  the  Roman  provinces,  arose  the  petty  Anglo-Saxon  king- 
doms, subsequently  known  as  the  Heptarchy,  which,  pervaded 
by  the  spirit  of  Paganism,  consumed  their  strength  in  mutual 
feud,  and  in  the  effort  to  enlarge  their  boundaries  at  each  other's 
expense.2 

Gildas,  about  the  year  560,  describes  with  grief  and  high-flown 
rhetoric  in  his  "  Book  of  Complaints  "  {Liber  queruhis),  the  endless 
distress  brought  upon  his  country  by  the  invaders  :  "  From  sea 
to  sea  the  flames  raged,  consuming  country  and  city,  and 
ceasing  not  till  all  was  turned  into  ashes.  Peasants  and  princes, 
people  and  priests,  were  all  put  to  the  sword.  In  the  streets 
lay  the  pinnacles  of  towers,  and  overturned  altars,  surrounded 
by  half-burnt  bodies.  Whoever  escaped  the  sword,  perished 
by  famine,  or  fled  beyond  the  seas."    He  gives  an  equally  lurid 

1  Cp.  Loebell,  Gregor  von  Tours  itnd seine  Zeit2,  pp.  35  ff.,  253  ff. 

2  Sidonius,  Ep.  8,  n.  6,  ed.  Krusch  (Mon.  Germ,  hist.,  4,  pars  2),  p.  132. 


No.  452] 


COLUMBAN 


183 


sketch  of  the  moral  and  social  conditions  of  his  country  during 
the  sixth  century.  Were  only  part  of  what  he  says  actually  true, 
it  would  yet  show  how  deep-seated  and  pitiable  was  the  corrup- 
tion consequent  upon  the  invasion  :  "  Britain  has  kings,  but  they 
are  tyrants  ;  she  has  judges,  but  they  are  godless,  they  punish  the 
guiltless  and  protect  the  robbers.  .  .  .  She  has  priests,  but  they 
are  ignorant ;  clerics,  but  they  are  scoundrels ;  pastors,  but  they 
are  wolves,  who  rend  their  own  flocks."  1 

452.  St.  Columban,  that  great  Irishman,  who  died  in  615,  at 
the  sight  of  the  desolation,  both  material  and  moral,  which  per- 
vaded the  whole  North,  was  also  moved  to  expect  the  approaching 
collapse  of  the  world.  With  his  own  eyes  he  had  seen  the  misery 
prevailing  in  the  British  Isles,  and  during  his  travels  he  had  also 
become  acquainted  with  the  similar  state  of  affairs  among  the 
Franks ;  he  himself  had  experienced  the  royal  displeasure  in 
Gaul,  and  by  command  of  the  King  had  been  driven  out  of  the 
monastery  at  Luxovium  (Luxeuil),  which  he  had  taken  endless 
trouble  to  build  amidst  the  ruins  of  a  castle  and  baths  belong- 
ing  to  Roman  times.  He  had  finally  found  shelter  among  the 
Lombards  of  Northern  Italy,  where  he  founded  the  conventual 
house  of  Bobbio,  which,  in  the  future,  was  to  be  the  centre 
of  Christian  culture  for  this  people  and  the  vast  surrounding 
territories. 

Seeing  how  dark  was  the  future,  Columban,  in  a  letter  to  the 
Pope,  exclaims:  "The  world  is  already  falling  to  pieces.  The 
Shepherd  of  shepherds  is  about  to  come  for  the  last  time  .  .  . 
The  Lord  of  Heaven  seeks  to  rouse  us  from  sleep  and  slothfulness 
by  the  horrors  which  surround  us,  that  He  may  find  us  watching 
for  His  dreadful  Coming.  .  .  See  how  the  nations  are  everywhere 
troubled  and  in  confusion,  see  how  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  are 
falling.  Soon  the  voice  of  the  Most  High  will  be  heard,  and  the 
earth  will  quake  before  Him."2 

The  Saint,  whose  foresight  was  otherwise  admirable,  in  his 
agitation,  believes  in  the  imminence  of  the  end  of  all  things. 
Such  was  the  impression  made  by  the  calamities  accompanying 

1  Liber  qucrulus  de  excidio  Britanniae,  pars  i,  c.  24  ;  P.L.,  LXIX.,  346.  Ibid.,  pars 
2,  c.  1  :  "  Reges  habet  Britannia,  sed  tyrannos,  indices  habet,  sed  i/npios."  Pars  3,  c.  1  : 
"  Sacerdotes  habct  Britannia,  sed  insipientes,"  &c.    P.L.,  LXIX.,  347,  367. 

2  Ep.  5  ad  Bonifatium  IV.;  P.L.,  LXXX.,  276,  277.  Ed.  Gundlach  (Mon.  Germ, 
hist.  Epp.  merov.  et  carolitti  aevi,  1),  p.  5. 


1 84 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  453 


the  downfall  of  the  ancient  Roman  world,  even  on  those  who 
were  mentally  in  advance  of  their  time. 

Columban,  in  his  anxiety,  turned  his  eyes  towards  Rome. 
There  he  still  saw  the  focus  of  mankind,  the  heart  which 
sends  the  life-blood  of  the  spirit  coursing  through  the  world. 
With  the  utmost  reverence  he  calls  the  Church  of  Rome  the 
"  chief  seat  of  the  true  faith,  the  head  of  all  the  Churches  in 
the  world."  "We  are,"  he  writes,  "the  bondmen  of  the  chair  of 
Peter.  Though  Rome  as  a  city  is  great  and  renowned  through- 
out the  wide  world,  to  us  she  seems  great  and  brilliant  because  of 
her  Apostolic  throne."1 

To  Columban,  Rome  appears  set  as  a  lighthouse  amid  the 
tempest  of  destruction.  This  accounts  for  his  anxiety,  aroused 
by  reports  which  have  penetrated  even  into  his  solitude  at 
Bobbio,  concerning  the  attitude  of  the  Popes  towards  the 
matter  of  the  Three  Chapters.  They  were  erroneous  and 
spiteful  rumours  circulated  by  foes  of  the  Council  of  Constanti- 
nople, and  false  charges  against  Pope  Vigilius,  which  at  that  time 
were  constantly  being  made  at  the  Lombard  Court.  Columban, 
whose  temper  was  not  of  the  sweetest,  and  who,  in  this  matter, 
was  prejudiced,  could  not  bring  himself  to  see  anything  save  an 
injustice  in  the  condemnation  of  the  Three  Chapters.  The 
strong  language  he  uses  in  his  letters  to  the  Pope  against  the 
opponents  of  the  Chapters,  and  against  what  he  considered  an 
ill-advised  action  on  the  part  of  Rome,  demonstrate  afresh  his 
conviction  of  the  supremacy  of  the  Roman  See,  of  which  the 
decisions  should  be  above  suspicion,  seeing  that  obedience 
is  demanded  of  all.2 

453.  The  world  of  that  day,  in  the  midst  of  its  decay  and  dis- 
solution, received,  however,  abundant  spiritual  aid  from  Rome, 
and  it  was  not  in  vain  that  men  like  Columban  looked  thither  for 
enlightenment  on  the  difficult  questions  then  being  mooted,  and 
for  the  safeguarding  of  those  supernatural  doctrines  which  guide 

1  Ibid.  ;  P.L.,  LXXX.,  274  ff.,  278  ;  GuNDLACH,  174:  "  Nos  enim,  ut  ante  dixi,  de- 
vincti  sumus  cathedrae  sancti  Petri.  Licet  enim  Roma  magna  est  et  vulgata,  per  istam 
cathedram  tantum  apud  nos  est  magna  et  c/ara." 

2  "  His  language  is  a  proof  that  the  constitution  of  the  Church  does  not,  as  its  oppo- 
nents fancy,  foster  a  slavish  state  of  mind,  but  that  dignified  freedom  is  compatible  with 
respect  and  veneration  for  the  Superiors  of  the  Church."  Such  is  the  excellent  inference 
drawn  by  FUNK,  Zur  Gesch.  der  altbritische?i  Kirchc  (Hist.  Jahrb.,  4,  1883,  5  ff.),  p.  17. 
Cp.  his  Kirchengesch.  Abh.,  1  (1897),  431. 


No.  453] 


GAUL 


185 


men  safely  through  the  perplexities  of  life.  Not  only  did  the 
Roman  See,  under  the  watchful  care  of  Christ,  shed  the  light  of 
true  doctrine  over  the  faithful  in  distress,  but  it  also  infused 
strength  and  courage  through  the  channel  of  the  Bishops  who 
obeyed  it.  It  was  in  those  very  ages  that  the  Holy  See  began  to 
send  in  greater  numbers  its  own  Roman  missionaries  to  foreign 
parts  to  bring  unbelieving  nations  to  share  in  the  salvation  of  the 
Church,  and  to  awaken  fresh  life  in  regions  where  Christianity  was 
moribund.  Those  were  also  years  during  which  Rome's  power  of 
attraction  increased  in  every  direction,  and  pilgrims  from  all  lands 
flocked  to  the  Eternal  City,  to  gain  new  spiritual  strength,  to 
invigorate  their  consciousness  of  unity,  and  to  study  the  customs 
of  the  Roman  Church  so  as  to  be  able  to  introduce  them  at 
home. 

Instead  of  the  end  of  the  world,  which  was  momentarily  ex- 
pected, many  Christian  ages  were  yet  to  come,  while  from  the 
ruins  of  antiquity,  with  the  help  of  Rome,  was  to  emerge  the 
mediaeval  system,  distinguished  by  its  Christianity  in  faith  and 
action.  But  of  what  was  to  come  no  one  had  the  slightest 
inkling.  On  the  contrary,  everywhere,  even  in  the  works  of 
Gregory  the  Great  we  are  confronted  by  utterances  concerning 
the  approaching  end  of  the  world.  This  we  can  explain  only  by 
reflecting  there  was  a  world,  viz.  the  ancient  Roman  world,  which 
was  really  on  the  point  of  being  submerged,  and  that  even  the 
greatest  minds  were  unable  to  rise  superior  to  the  dismal  influences 
which  surrounded  them. 

"  The  World  is  passing  away,"  exclaims  Avitus,  the  famous 
Bishop  of  Vienne,  whose  only  consolation  is  his  knowledge  that 
at  any  rate  Rome  still  stands  with  her  institutions  intact.1 

The  inscription  which  John  III.  put  up  in  Rome's  new  Church 
of  the  Apostles  says  :  "  Amidst  universal  misery  the  Pope  was 
ever  generous,  nor  did  he  lose  heart  when  the  world  failed."  2 

We  even  hear  authors  complaining  that  literary  work  has 
become  difficult  because  the  world  is  dying.  Writing  books,  so 
we  are  told,  has  become  an  unprofitable  task. 

The  writer  known  as  Fredegarius,  at  the  beginning  of  his 
chronicle,  makes  such  a  confession  with  the  utmost  simplicity. 

1  Ep.  34,  ed.  PEIPER  (Mon.  Germ,  hist.,  Auc//.  an//.,  6,  pars  2),  p.  64. 

2  "  Largior  existe?is  aftgus/o  in  /empore  praesul  \  Despexi/  mundo  deficiente  premi." 
De  Rossi,  Inscr.  christ,  2,  1,  pp.  65,  258,  355.    Cp.  above,  p.  91,  note  1. 


i86 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  453 


He  bewails  the  relaxation  of  mental  power  ;  no  one  can  now  hope  to 
emulate  the  writers  of  yore.  Seeing  that  the  last  days  have  come, 
he  has  no  hesitation  in  admitting  his  rusticity  and  his  limitations. 
His  literary  style  certainly  bears  out  his  opening  statement,  being 
awkward  and  extremely  poor.1 

1  Chronicle  written  in  642.    Wattenbach,  Gcschichtsqucllen*,  1,  106. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  END  OF  ROMAN  CULTURE— CHRONICLES,  FORGERIES, 

AND  LEGENDS 

Authors  and  Schools 

454.  Though  the  unhappy  state  of  the  times  in  the  sixth  century 
had  entailed  a  lamentable  neglect  of  study  and  of  olden  culture, 
even  then  there  were  men  of  distinction,  who,  after  having  made 
the  literary  treasures  of  antiquity  their  own  by  dogged  study, 
devotedly  applied  them  to  the  benefit  of  their  contemporaries  and  of 
generations  yet  to  come.  Men  so  great  as  Boethius,  the  Senator, 
so  learned  and  many-sided  as  Cassiodorus  ;  men  who  were  both 
scholars  and  churchmen,  such  as  Csesarius  of  Aries,  and  Ennodius 
of  Pavia  ;  poets  like  Venantius  Fortunatus  ;  finally,  historians 
like  Gregory  of  Tours,  to  say  nothing  of  a  Gregory  the  Great, 
who  deserves  to  be  reckoned  among  the  greatest  of  the  Fathers, 
all  these  names  remind  us  that  the  period  of  decaying  Roman 
civilisation,  which  we  are  studying,  was  not  wholly  deficient  in 
powerful  minds,  more  or  less  imbued  with  the  classical  spirit, 
which  preserved  the  inheritance  of  ancient  culture.  Only  to  the 
strenuous  exertions  of  Christians,  and  the  spiritual  impulse  main- 
tained among  mankind  by  the  new  Heaven-sent  Religion  do  we 
owe  it  that  those  ages  found  any  pleasure  in  the  classics  of 
antiquity  and  did  not  allow  them  to  be  irrevocably  lost  to  the 
future.1 

People  still  read  and  studied,  and,  especially  in  the  monasteries 
now  springing  up,  devoted  themselves  with  serious  effort  to  the 
pursuit  of  knowledge  ;  but  there  existed  no  longer  the  same 
public  and  social  incentive  to  original  work,  and,  above  all,  amidst 
the  unutterable  misfortunes  which  had  swept  over  the  face  of  the 

1  H.  RlCHTER,  Das  westromischc  Reich  (Berlin,  1865),  p.  23  :  "  Without  Christianity 
neither  German  nor  Roman  would  ever  have  acquired  that  taste  for  ancient  classics 
which  had  been  lost  by  their  immediate  predecessors,  against  whose  degeneracy 
Christianity  had  to  struggle.  Christian  hands  alone  saved  those  remains  for  a  more 
appreciative  posterity." 

1S7 


i88 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  455 


civilised  world,  the  necessary  means  for  study  were  frequently 
lacking. 

But  already  Cassian  of  Massilia  had  sought  to  give  a  scholarly 
tendency  to  the  labours  of  the  monks  in  their  silent  cells  ;  and 
just  as  Cassiodorus  had  strongly  advised  the  pursuit  of  knowledge 
in  the  monasteries  of  Italy,  so  Caesarius,  the  celebrated  Bishop  of 
Aries,  strove  also  to  create  new  abodes  of  learning  wherever 
ascetics  dwelt.  Caesarius  expressly  reckons  the  copying  of  books 
as  one  of  the  duties  which  monks  by  their  profession  are  bound  to 
perform.  The  earliest  known  Rule  for  convents  of  women,  viz. 
the  treatise  Ad  virgines,  compiled  by  St.  Caesarius  in  5 13,  obliges 
even  nuns  to  copy  books.  Caesaria,  the  sister  of  Caesarius,  who 
ruled  the  nunnery  founded  by  her  brother,  was  herself  a  lady  of 
education. 

455.  In  the  matter  of  education  and  culture  in  the  early 
portion  of  the  sixth  century,  the  southern  provinces  of  Gaul  were 
the  best  provided.  Indeed  Gaul,  "far  more  than  Italy  the  actual 
mother-country,  seemed  called  to  be  the  protectress  of  ancient 
civilisation.  Overwhelmed  by  barbarians,  with  its  abundance  of 
monasteries,  it  has  to  its  credit  the  glory  of  having  for  ages  main- 
tained the  high  standard  of  ancient  culture  for  the  benefit  of 
mankind.  The  reason  for  this  is  clear  :  nowhere  could  minds 
be  found  more  open  to  this  culture  than  among  the  Romanised 
Celts."  1  The  second  place  in  this  respect  belongs  to  Northern 
Italy,  which  was  distinguished  for  the  intelligence  and  earnestness 
with  which  it  followed  ancient  literary  traditions.  Ravenna,  par- 
ticularly, long  remained  one  of  the  headquarters  of  ancient  scholar- 
ship, even  when  the  last  successor  of  Theodoric  the  Goth,  that 
broad-minded  patron  of  Roman  knowledge  and  art,  had  passed 
away.  Many  late  works  of  art  in  Ravenna,  and  likewise  in  Aries 
and  other  cities  of  southern  Gaul,  belong  to  those  years,  and  their 
forms,  borrowed  from  the  antique,  with  all  their  defects  and  their 
failure  to  reach  the  standards  of  earlier  and  better  times,  witness  at 
least  to  an  effort  to  retain  as  much  as  possible  of  what  was  good 
in  former  ages.  Thus  we  find  in  art  what  we  found  in  the  litera- 
ture of  the  period,  viz.  excellent  intentions,  but  also  the  same 
traces  of  progressive  incapacity.    An  example  from  the  domain 

1  Norden,  Die  antike  Kunstprosa  vom  6  Jahrh.  v.  Chr.  bis  in  die  Zeit  der  Renais- 
sance (1898),  p.  631.    In  what  follows  we  have  also  drawn  largely  on  this  work. 


111.  209. — End  of  the  Sarcophagus  of  Archbishop  Theodore 
in  Sant'  Apollinare   in  Classe,  near  Ravenna. 


no. 456]  INFLUENCE  OF  VIRGIL 


189 


of  art  is  the  sarcophagus  of  Archbishop  Theodore  of  Ravenna 
(111.  209). 1  The  bas-reliefs  on  each  side  are  not  devoid  of  taste 
and  sense  of  form,  but  in  the  main  they  merely  reproduce  earlier 
designs,  which  the  sculptor  has,  moreover,  failed  to  apply  cor- 
rectly or  to  combine.  The  cross  rests  upon  the  old,  classical  lion's 
head,  but  the  latter  has  been  unduly  flattened  and  the  design  lacks 
artistic  consistency  ;  nor  does  the  other  cross  on  the  chalice  or 
cantharus,  also  adapted  from  an  ancient  pattern,  look  much  better. 
The  twining  branches  and  the  birds  are  also  borrowed  from 
early  works,  but  they  are  more  satisfactorily  executed. 

In  the  educated  circles  of  Rome  the  treatment  of  ancient 
literary  works  was  somewhat  similar.  The  classics  were  not  only 
copied,  but  learnt  by  heart  and  expounded.  People  sought,  with 
more  or  less  success,  to  imitate  them,  both  in  secular  works  and 
in  the  expression  of  Christian  conceptions.  The  favourite  authors 
were  Cicero,  Livy,  Pliny,  Horace,  Suetonius,  and  Seneca.  But 
the  most  prized  of  all,  and  the  most  indispensable  in  the  schools, 
was  and  remained  Virgil. 

Virgil  as  Moulder  of  the  Middle  Ages 

456.  The  poet  Virgil  was  everywhere  chosen  in  preference 
to  all  other  classic  writers  for  the  training  of  young  people,  on 
account  of  his  clear  and  elegant  language,  the  gentle  cadence  of 
his  verse,  and  the  pure  and  spiritual  tone  which  pervades  his 
whole  work.  The  educational  influence  of  Virgil  on  the  Middle 
Ages  was  enormous.  Mankind  may  thank  him  for  a  large  part 
of  the  taste  and  feeling  it  acquired  in  the  schools.  The  very 
ideas  and  images  current  in  those  ages  betray  the  study  of  that 
poet,  whose  yUneid  was  the  most  popular  school-book  of  mediaeval 
times.2 

During  the  sixth  century  every  educated  monk,  cleric,  and 
layman  was  well  acquainted  with  the  fate  of  Troy,  and  with  the 
adventures  of  Rome's  first  father,  in  all  the  lively  colours  with 
which  the  imagination  of  the  Mantuan  poet  had  invested  them, 
a  fact  which  naturally  added  even  more  to  the  esteem  in  which 
Rome  was  held.    Gregory  of  Tours,  speaking  of  Andarchius,  an 

1  Photo,  by  Alinari.    Cp.  Kraus,  Gesch.  der  christl.  Kit/ist,  1,  p.  253. 

2  COMPARETTI,  Virgilio  nel  medio  evo%  (1896),  1,  p.  99,  on  the  sixth  century  ;  p.  j  59 
ff.,  on  grammatical  and  rhetorical  studies  in  the  early  Middle  Ages. 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.456 


officer  of  the  Court  of  King  Sigibert,  and  wishing  to  show  how 
educated  he  was,  says  :  "  He  was  perfectly  at  home  in  the  works  of 
Virgil,  in  the  books  of  the  Theodosian  Code,  and  in  arithmetic."  1 

Gregory  of  Tours,  by  his  quotations  and  language,  shows 
clearly  enough  that  he  himself,  in  the  Frankish  schools  of  the  sixth 
century,  had  not  only  read  the  sEneid,  but  had  also  familiarised 
himself  with  the  Georgica  and  Bucolica.  He  must  also  have  read 
many  other  ancient  authors,  for  he  sometimes  recalls  Gellius,  Pliny, 
and  even  Servius,  the  commentator  of  Virgil.2 

From  the  sixth  century  dates  a  remarkable  poetical  produc- 
tion entitled,  Cento  vergilianus  de  ecclesia,  of  which  the  author  is 
thought  to  be  Mavortius.  Therein  the  poet,  in  words  and  phrases 
often  borrowed  literally  from  Virgil,  recounts  the  life  of  Christ, 
the  foundation  of  the  Church,  and  even  her  customs — for  instance, 
the  liturgy  in  the  Basilicas.  In  the  latter  highly  instructive 
passages,  he  describes  the  faithful  assembled  "  beneath  a  vast 
roof,  sustained  by  a  hundred  columns,"  and  the  "  sacerdos  "  hold- 
ing forth.  Even  the  preacher  steals  his  texts  from  Virgil's  store- 
house, and,  from  the  ambo,  bids  his  hearers  "learn  righteousness, 
Discite  iustitiam  moniti"  though,  instead  of  concluding,  as  Virgil 
does:  "And  despise  not  the  gods,"  he  says,  "And  cherish  and 
value  your  Hope."3 

When,  in  accordance  with  ancient  custom,  the  poet  publicly 
recited  his  production,  the  assembly  rewarded  him  with  cries 
of  "  Maro  iunior !  Maro  iunior!"  which  he  acknowledged 
without  further  ado  by  six  improvised  verses.  We  can  scarcely 
fail  to  be  reminded  of  the  poets'  celebrations  in  the  Basilica  Ulpia 
on  Trajan's  Forum,  and  of  Arator's  recitation  in  the  church  of 
St.  Peter  ad  vincula^ 

Mavortius,  the  ready  versifier,  whose  life  is  quite  unknown,  also 
composed  a  similar  Virgilian  cento  on  the  Judgment  of  Paris  the 
son  of  Priam.  We  see  thereby  how,  in  the  orations  and  literature 
of  those  days,  spiritual  subjects  were  mingled  with  profane.5 

1  Hist.  Franc,  4,  c.  47  (48). 

a  See  Manitius,  Neues  Archiv,  21,  549.  Bonnet  devoted  an  excellent  work  to  the 
Latin  of  Gregory  of  Tours  :  Le  latitt  de  Gre'goire  de  Tours,  Paris,  1890. 

8  Cento  vergil.,  ed.  Schenkl  {Corp.  script,  eccl.  Vindob.,  t.  16).    On  the  Liturgy,  see 

p.  621. 

4  Ebert,  Gesch.  der  Lit.  des  MA.  im  Abendtande2,  1  (1889),  432.  The  public  recita- 
tions with  applause,  or  the  reverse,  is  alluded  to  by  Ennodius,  Cartn.  1,  n.  9,  Praef. : 
"  Cur  recitet  publice,  quem  laus  nec  decet  publica  nec  delectat." 

6  Ed.  RlESE  (Afitho/ogia  latina,  1,  n.  10),  ed.  BAHRENS  {Poetae  latini  minores, 
4,  n.  200). 


no.  456]  INFLUENCE  OF  VIRGIL 


191 


Nor  was  it  anything  new  or  unusual  that  a  minor  poet  should 
thus  borrow  inspiration  from  Virgil.  For  a  long  time  past  all  were 
glad  to  array  themselves  with  tags  from  the  mantle  of  the  favourite 
poet  of  old  Rome.  Ausonius,  the  Pagan,  had  already  compiled 
a  Cento  nuptialis  in  verses  from  Virgil.  There  also  exists  a 
Christian  Virgilian  cento  composed  as  early  as  the  fourth  century 
by  the  poetess  Proba,  and  another  of  the  fifth  century — the 
Vergiliana  Continentia.  Proba  was  the  wife  of  Adelphius  the 
Proconsul,  City  Prefect  of  Rome  in  351,  and  she  must  not  be 
confounded,  as  she  so  often  has  been,  with  Anicia  Faltonia 
Proba.  Her  work,  consisting  of  694  hexameters,  deals  with  sub- 
jects from  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments,  which  she  endeavours 
to  sing  in  the  grand  style  of  Virgil.  During  the  Middle  Ages 
Proba  was  often  used  in  the  schools  side  by  side  with  Virgil.  In 
the  Vergiliana  Continentia  of  the  next  century  the  effort  to  imi- 
tate Virgil  is  carried  even  further.  The  author,  Fabius  Planciades 
Fulgentius,  an  African,  actually  seeks  to  give  an  allegorical  in- 
terpretation of  the  yEneid — an  unlucky  attempt,  resulting  in  a 
distorted  work  which  rightly  found  little  favour.1 

In  the  fourth  century  the  famous  passage  in  Virgil's  fourth 
Eclogue,  concerning  the  restoration  of  the  world  and  the  wonder- 
ful child,  had  come  to  be  understood  Messianically,  as  applying  to 
Christ  and  His  religion. 

The  words  which  Virgil  professed  to  have  received  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Cumaean  Sibyl,  sounded  too  tempting  to  credulous 
and  enthusiastic  Christians  not  to  be  at  once  accepted  as  a  Pagan 
prophecy  of  the  coming  Saviour  of  the  world.  The  reverence  in 
which  the  great  poet  was  held  as  a  trainer  and  educator  of  the 
young  was  even  deepened  by  the  persuasion  that  he  was  in  some 
sense  a  prophet  of  Christ.  Dante,  who  is  well  known  as  an 
admirer  of  Virgil,  accepts  the  early  mediaeval  tradition,  and  takes 
the  passage  in  the  fourth  Eclogue  as  a  prediction  of  Christ.  Pope 
Innocent  III.,  in  one  of  his  sermons,  also  expounds  the  poem  after 
the  same  fashion.2 

At  Zamora  in  Spain,  in  the  twelfth  century,  Virgil  was  given  a 
place  in  the  stalls  of  the  choir  among  the  Old  Testament  prophets, 

1  On  Proba,  see  Ebert,  125  ff.  On  Fabius  Planciades  Fulgentius,  a  relative  of  the 
Bishop  and  author  Fulgentius,  cp.  Teuffel,  Gesch.  der  rom.  Lit.,  5.  ed.  Schwabe 
(1890),  p.  1238. 

2  On  the  traditional  Christian  interpretation  of  the  Eclogue,  see  COMPARETTI,  1,  133 
ff.    Dante,  Purg.,  22,  v.  67  ff.    Innocent  III,  Serm.  2  in festo  nativ. 


192 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  457 


the  word  PROGENIES  showing  the  allusion  to  the  Cumcean 
prophecy.  Even  to  this  day  in  Rome  Raffaele's  Cumaean  Sibyl 
in  Sta.  Maria  della  Pace  holds  in  her  hand  a  scroll  which  speaks 
of  the  "  new  race,  descending  from  Heaven."  In  the  Middle  Ages 
it  was  even  told  how  St.  Paul  himself  had  made  his  pilgrimage 
to  Virgil's  tomb  near  Naples,  and  how  he  had  wept  bitterly  over 
it  at  the  thought  that  he  had  not  been  able  to  meet  the  poet 
in  this  world  and  convert  him.  St.  Paul's  lament  was  even 
preserved  in  a  hymn  formerly  sung  in  the  poet's  native  city,  in 
which  the  Apostle  is  made  to  say  : — 

"  How  warm  had  been  my  embrace, 
Had  I  met  thee  face  to  face, 
Greatest  of  bards  !  "  1 

Ennodius — Fortunatus 

457.  Magnus  Felix  Ennodius,  Bishop  of  Pavia,  in  his  works 
introduces  us  to  those  distinguished  circles  in  Rome  which, 
during  the  Gothic  period  in  the  sixth  century,  gave  themselves  up 
to  literary  pursuits. 

A  man  of  high  culture  and  practical  experience,  during  his 
long  residence  there,  he  had  come  to  know  the  City  of  Rome  and 
its  society.  He  mentions  a  series  of  men  distinguished  for  their 
eloquence :  Faustus,  Avienus,  Symmachus,  Festus,  Agapetus, 
Probus,  Probinus,  and  Cethegus,  and  even  two  women  :  Domna 
Barbara,  "  that  flower  of  Roman  intellect,"  and  Stephania,  "the 
most  brilliant  light  of  the  Catholic  Church."  2 

Ennodius,  who  delighted  in  good  panegyrics,  gives  us  this  list 
in  the  Paraenesis  didascalica  which  he  wrote  for  two  youths  as  a 

1  Comparetti,  1,  132.   The  hymn  in  Daniel,  Thes.  hymn.,  5,  266.   The  verse  runs  : 

"  Quern  te,  inqteit,  reddidissem, 
Si  te  vivum  invenissem, 
Poctarum  maxime." 

For  the  four  Sibyls  in  Sta.  Maria  della  Pace,  see  Wey,  Rone,  Eng.  trans.,  p.  187. 

2  ENNODIUS,  Paraenesis  didascalica,  to  Ambrose  and  Beatus,  written  between  505 
and  509.  P.L.,  LXIII.,  254;  ed.  H ARTEL,  p.  408  ff.  Parthenius,  a  nephew  of  Ennodius, 
was  one  of  the  many  Gauls  who  at  that  time  went  to  Rome  for  study.  For  his  course  of 
study,  cp.  the  passages  from  Ennodius  in  the  Ind.  nom.,  ed.  Hartel.  Norden  (p.  642) 
lays  stress  also  upon  the  latter's  letter  to  Simplicianus  (7,  n.  14)  :  "in  ilia  urbe  litterarum 
scientia  adstipulante  laudaris.  .  .  .  Per  alveum  Suum  romanae  eloquentiae  unda  prae- 
labilur,"  and  quotes  for  rhetorical  displays  in  Rome  from  Sidonius,  e.g.  Ep.  9,  n.  14,  2  : 
"  dignus  omnino,  que  in  plausibilis  Roma  foveret  nlnis,  quoque  recitattte  crepitantis 
Athenaei  subsellia  cuncata  quaterentnr."    Cp.  Carm.,  8,  n.  9  ff.,  9. 


No.  457] 


ENNODIUS 


l93 


guide  during  their  education.  It  is  no  model  for  students,  but  a 
rather  superficial  booklet  with  plentiful  evidence  of  the  decline  in 
taste.  Here  as  elsewhere  decay  is  manifest  in  exaggeration  and 
affectation — rocks  on  which  degenerate  literature  of  every  period 
makes  shipwreck.  In  this  little  book  Ennodius  launches  forth 
into  an  inflated  eulogy  of  the  rhetorical  art,  which  he  seems  to 
mistake  for  genuine  eloquence.  According  to  him,  rhetoric  rules 
the  world.  "  Whoso  uses  our  studies,"  he  says,  "  controls  the 
universe." 1 

Ennodius  was  also  the  author  of  some  pompous  little  speeches 
for  school  use  (dictiones)  on  subjects  drawn  from  Rome's  Pagan 
past,  in  which  we  find  lengthy  discourses  of  Dido  to  departing 
i^Eneas,  the  Lament  of  Thetis  over  the  body  of  Achilles,  and 
so  forth.  To  him  belongs  also  a  speech  to  obtain  free  passage 
for  the  vestals  and  sacrificing  priests  from  a  conquered  city.  In 
a  polished  discourse  which  was  to  be  delivered  at  the  translation 
of  a  public  hall  {auditorium)  to  the  Forum,  he  declared  that  a 
lecture-hall  to  the  rhetorician  was  the  same  as  the  field  of  battle 
to  the  soldier,  as  the  sea  to  the  sailor,  or  the  Forum  to  the  advo- 
cate. "Arouse  yourselves,"  he  cries  to  the  Romans,  whose 
ardour  he  sees  cooling,  "be  zealous,  hasten  to  win  the  laurels  of 
oratory,  mindful  of  your  fathers'  renown."  We  may  well  believe, 
however,  that  the  then  Romans  were  in  no  mood  to  devote  them- 
selves to  mere  childish  bombast.  What,  moreover,  must  sober 
readers  have  thought  of  Ennodius  when  they  found  him  intro- 
ducing into  his  poems,  as  a  mouthpiece  with  which  to  praise  the 
virtue  of  monks  and  nuns,  no  less  a  person  than  classic  Cupid  !2 

And  yet,  in  spite  of  his  foibles,  Ennodius  was  a  most  worthy 

1  BOISSIER,  La  fin  du  paganisme,  I  (1891),  251  ft".  Ebert,  p.  439.  Norden  (Die 
antike  Kitnstprosa,  p.  639)  sums  up  the  stylistic  defects  common  to  Ennodius's  contem- 
poraries as  follows  :  "  Any  one  who  has  read  them  knows  that  their  prose  ...  is  often 
so  distorted  as  to  be  quite  unintelligible  ;  that  in  important  passages  it  is  indistinguishable 
from  poetry  ;  that  the  words  no  longer  occupy  their  proper  places  in  the  sentences  ;  that 
bold  neologisms  are  found  side  by  side  with  archaisms  ;  and  that  all  sorts  of  word-play, 
and  especially  the  favourite  jingling  endings,  are  used  to  an  alarming  degree.  .  .  .  Re- 
miniscences of  Sallust  and  Cicero  in  such  a  setting  only  increase  the  sense  of  incongruity." 
RiCHTER  (Das  westriimische  Reich,  1865,  Intro.)  very  skilfully  compares  the  literary 
degeneracy  with  that  in  art:  "The  inflated  diction,  far-fetched  flowers  of  rhetoric,  the 
aridity  and  combination  of  pettiness  with  exaggeration  found  in  the  works  of  the  rhetors 
and  sophists,  were  not  without  some  connection  with  the  empty  parade  of  rambling 
palaces  overladen  with  gold,  the  overgrown  monuments  and  statues  devoid  of  motive,  or 
the  grotesque  appearance  of  the  nobles  in  their  robes  of  cloth  of  gold  embroidered  with 
silk,  with  animals  and  flowers,  with  their  wigs  and  odd-coloured  puffs." 

2  Dictio  quando  ad  forum  translatio  (auditorii)  facta  est.  In  this  we  read:  "Hie 
nihil  est  tain  familiare  quam  pompa  dicendi.  Currite,  prosapiae  stimulis  incitati."  On 
Cupid,  Epithal.  Carm.,  IV. 

vol.  in.  jsr 


i94 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.458 


and  painstaking  cleric  and  bishop.  His  pedantry  and  rhetoric 
were  mere  superficial  decorations.  After  having  embraced  the 
clerical  state,  and,  with  her  consent,  placed  his  wife  in  a  convent, 
he  devoted  himself  to  the  love  of  God  and  the  care  of  souls.  He 
did  not,  however,  relinquish  his  studies.  Ennodius,  moreover, 
could  write  with  the  utmost  feeling  and  dignity  when  he  fell 
in  with  a  subject  worthy  of  him.  Such  a  theme  was  long  pro- 
vided him  by  the  Church  of  Rome,  when,  in  the  course  of  the 
schism,  he  had  to  defend  Pope  Symmachus  against  the  accusa- 
tions of  his  antagonists.  When  called  upon  to  do  so,  he  was  also 
equal  to  defending  the  Church  with  heroic  self-sacrifice,  as  he  did, 
for  instance,  on  his  second  embassy  to  Constantinople,  when  he 
was  made  the  butt  of  the  contempt  and  violence  of  the  Byzantines' 
prejudice  against  Rome.  Full  of  good  works  for  the  Church, 
and  much  esteemed  for  his  furtherance  of  the  cause  of  education, 
he  died  in  521,  with  the  reputation  of  a  saintly  Bishop.1 

458.  Some  ten  years  later  a  Christian  poet  was  born  whose 
work  faithfully  reflects  the  literary  life  of  the  second  half  of  the 
century.  This  was  Venantius  Honorius  Clementianus  FortU" 
natus,  like  Ennodius,  a  Bishop.  In  him,  too,  Rome's  early 
culture  survived,  ennobled  by  Christianity. 

Fortunatus  was  a  man  of  great  talents,  and  had  been  well 
trained  at  home  in  Tervisium  (Treviso)  in  grammar,  rhetoric,  and 
law.  In  565  he  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the  tomb  of  St.  Martin  of 
Tours,  and  after  many  wanderings  settled  down  in  Pictavium 
(Poitiers),  where  in  a  convent  dedicated  to  the  Holy  Cross,  dwelt 
his  patronesses,  Radegunda,  the  Thuringian  Princess,  and  widow 
of  the  Frankish  King  Chlotar  I.,  and  her  foster-child  Agnes,  both 
equally  devoted  to  poetry  and  to  silent  virtue.  In  Pictavium 
Fortunatus  received  priest's  orders,  and  towards  the  end  of  the 
century  became  Bishop  of  the  same  city.  As  Bishop  he  was 
respected  and  revered  by  the  best  known  men  in  Gaul,  with  most 
of  whom  he  was  in  personal  touch.  He  seems  to  have  died  early 
in  the  seventh  century. 

His  poems  are  many  of  them  models  of  sincerity  and  deep 
feeling.  In  his  religious  hymns  especially,  the  beauty  of  his 
language  lends  new  meanings  to  Christian  conceptions.  The 

1  Magani,  5.  Ennodio  (3  vols.,  Pavia,  1886.  Opp.,  ed.  H ARTEL,  Corp.  script,  eccl. 
Vitidob.,  VI.),  ed.  Vogel  (Mon.  Germ,  hist.,  Auctt.  anliq.,  VII.). 


no.  458]  FORTUNATUS  195 

poems  of  Fortunatus  are  written  in  an  agreeable  metre.  They  dis- 
play his  kindly,  warm-hearted  nature.  His  readily  stimulated  muse 
and  his  pliancy  made  him  equally  at  home  everywhere,  amongst 
highest  and  lowest  and  in  circles  both  spiritual  and  profane. 
An  instance  of  his  more  solemn  style  is  found  in  his  touching 
elegy  on  the  desolation  of  Thuringia.  This  and  others  of  the 
works  of  this  much  travelled  poet  are  also  of  considerable  value 
on  account  of  the  historical  notices  they  contain  of  places, 
manners,  monuments,  and  works  of  art.1 

His  best  known  pieces  are  his  hymns  on  the  Passion  :  Vexilla 
regis  prodeunt  and  Pange  lingua  gloriosi  proelium  certaminis. 
The  former  is  cast  in  an  Ambrosian  form.  The  latter  is  a  sort  of 
war-song,  for,  as  it  celebrates  the  bloody  victory  of  the  Crucified, 
it  was  written  by  the  poet  in  the  same  measure  as  the  Roman 
military  songs,  i.e.  in  the  trochaic  tetrameter  eata/eetieus,  arranged 
in  triple  lines.  Fortunatus  in  this  hymn  sings  the  triumph  of  the 
"  trophy  of  the  Cross"  (Cruris  trophaeo  die  triumphum  nobilem). 
It  was  written  to  commemorate  the  sending  by  Justin  II.  of  a 
relic  of  the  True  Cross,  beautifully  mounted,  to  the  convent  of 
Pictavium  in  answer  to  a  request  from  Radegunda,  just  as  he  had 
sent  one  to  St.  Peter's  in  Rome.  These  Passion  hymns,  having 
been  designed  to  be  sung  at  the  reception  of  the  relic  of  the 
Cross,  glorify  in  an  especial  manner  the  wood  of  the  Cross, 
the  Tree  of  Redemption,  from  which  the  relic  came.  In  another 
hymn  to  the  Cross  the  poet  describes  with  great  feeling  the  vine 
which  entwines  the  stem  and  branches  of  the  Cross,  and  extols  its 
fruit,  whence  flows  "sweet  blood-red  wine,"  a  poetic  description 
which  recalls  the  figures  of  the  Cross  with  trailing  vines  frequently 
found  in  mosaics  and  elsewhere  (111.  2 10). 2 

Fortunatus  is,  none  the  less,  under  the  influence  of  the  debased 

1  De  excidio  Tlioringiae.  He  treats  the  subject  '.i  ex  persona  Radegundis."  On 
Fortunatus,  see  Ebert,'  Lit.  des  Abendlandes,  i,  518.  Teuffel-Schwabe,  1278  ff. ; 
LEROUX,  Le  pocte  Fortunat,  1887;  W.  MEYER,  Der  Gelegenheitsdichter  V.  Fortunatus 
(Abh.  Gbttingen,  N.F.,  4,  1900  f.).  To  Fortunatus  we  might  well  apply  what  Ebert  says 
(p.  362)  :  "  Classic  culture  was  forced  to  take  shelter  under  the  wings  of  the  Church, 
which  afforded  it  an  asylum,  particularly  in  conventual  houses." 

2  On  the  sending  of  the  relic  of  the  true  Cross  to  Poitiers,  see  Greg.  Tur.,  Hist. 
Franc.,  9,  c.  40.  Vita  S.  Radegundis  {Acta  SS.,  13  Aug.,  III.,  p.  67),  1.  2,  c.  18  ff.  On 
the  hymns  to  the  Cross,  see  Ebert,  p.  533  ff.  On  crosses  with  vines,  see,  e.g.  the  sixth 
century  sarcophagus  of  Fusignano  near  Faenza,  GARRUCCI,  PI.  393  ;  or  the  Rimini  altar 
(de  Rossi,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1864,  p.  1 5)  or  the  mediaeval  apsidal  mosaic  of  San  Clemente, 
in  Rome.  111.  210  is  from  Holtzinger,  Altchr.  Architcktur.,  p.  181.  The  words 
"VINEA  FACTA  EST  DILECTA  IN  CORNVM  IN  LOCO  VBERI "  (an  old 
Latin  version  of  Isaias  v.  1  :  "  My  beloved  had  a  vineyard  on  a  hill  in  a  fruitful  place") 
explain  the  presence  of  the  vine. 


196 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  458 


taste  of  his  time  ;  his  works  are  not  free  from  exaggeration  and 
affectation,  especially  those  which  he  produced  previous  to  his 
ordination,  i.e.  whilst  yet  a  wanderer. 

It  was  during  his  pilgrimage  to  Tours  that  he  composed  in 
Austrasia,  at  the  Court  of  King  Sigibert,  the  nuptial  hymn,  or 


111.  210. — Christ's  Vine. 
Tessellated  pavement  from  the  apse  of  a  church  in  Ancona. 

Epithalamium,  for  the  latter's  marriage  with  Brunhilda  (566). 
At  that  time  he  still  shared  the  weakness  for  borrowing  from 
Olympus  the  figures  for  the  adornment  of  such  nuptial  odes. 
In  his  poetry,  however,  Venus,  Cupid,  and  the  rest  play  a 
humbler  and  more  decent  part  than  in  certain  earlier  works  of 
the  decadence.  We  can  also  feel  that  in  such  passages  the  poet 
is  not  quite  at  his  ease.    As  a  whole,  the  Germanic  world  in 


NO.  459] 


FORTUNATUS 


197 


which  he  lived  never  showed  the  interest  in  mythology  displayed 
by  members  of  the  Latin  family.1 

Not  only  the  Epithalamia,  but  also  other  panegyrics  of  For- 
tunatus  verge  on  the  extravagant.  Wherever  he  went  he  was 
ready  with  a  song  in  praise  of  friends  or  of  those  who  showed 
him  hospitality.  He  lauds  King  Chilperic  in  a  flattering  poem 
actually  recited  before  the  Bishops  at  a  Synod  generally  believed 
to  have  been  that  of  Braunacum  (Braine)  in  580.  He  here 
assures  Chilperic  with  quiet  confidence  that  the  world  is  full  of 
his  name  ;  Libya,  the  Red  Sea,  and  even  the  distant  Indus  are 
acquainted  with  his  fame  ;  the  King's  art  of  writing  verses  is 
as  great  as  his  valour  in  battle.  And  yet  in  Chilperic's  Latin 
distichs  there  were  verses  in  plenty  which  were  either  too  long 
or  too  short.  On  a  later  occasion,  with  equal  fulsomeness, 
Fortunatus  told  Charibert,  another  Merovingian  king,  that  to 
him  was  due  a  place  near  Trajan  and  the  Fabians,  yea,  near 
Solomon  himself.  Charibert,  too,  the  poet  honours  for  his 
dexterity  in  handling  the  Latin  language.2 

In  those  days  Frankish  kings  and  nobles  were  flattered  to 
be  praised  as  expert  Latinists.  The  numerous  poems  written 
by  our  poet  in  their  honour  also  show  that  they  were  delighted 
to  hear  their  exploits  sung  in  Latin  verse. 

Vilithusa,  a  noble  lady  who  was  certainly  not  a  Roman,  is 
called  one  by  Fortunatus  in  a  poem  addressed  to  her,  because, 
forsooth,  she  had  made  herself  perfectly  at  home  in  Latin  culture. 
Duke  Lupus,  a  gentleman  of  mixed  descent — Roman  and 
German — employed  at  the  Austrasian  Court  of  King  Sigibert, 
is  politely  told  that,  in  his  worthy  person,  noble  Rome  herself 
has  settled  down  at  the  German  Court.3 

459.  Against  this  one-sided  glorification  of  old  Romanism 
we  may  set  the  fine  lines  upon  the  Frankish  nation  in  the 
prologue  of  the  Salic  Law  written  about  this  same  time.  This 
Latin  preface,  cast  in  metric  form,  is  the  oldest  specimen  of 
Frankish  native  poetry.    It  extols  the  nation  as  handsome,  clever, 

1  On  the  mythological  element,  see  Ebert,  p.  526. 

2  For  the  panegyric  of  Venantius  Fortunatus  on  Chilperic,  see  Carmina,  9,  n.  1.  At 
the  beginning  he  addresses  the  " ordo  sacerdottan"  i.e.  the  Bishops  in  Council.  For  the 
poet's  praise  of  Charibert,  Carm.,  6,  n.  2  and  4,  ed.  LEO  {Mon.  Germ,  hist.,  Auctt. 
antiq.,  IV.). 

3  On  Vilithusa,  Carm.,  4,  n.  26.    On  Lupus,  7,  n.  7,  v.  7. 


198 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No. 460 


brave  and  true,  as  having  risen  even  higher  since  it  embraced 
the  Catholic  Faith,  and  as  having  an  advantage  over  the  other 
Arian  Germanic  nations  in  that  it  has  never  been  tarnished  by- 
heresy.  "The  Franks'  one-time  dependence  on  the  Romans 
now  appears  in  the  light  of  a  bondage  of  which  they  freed 
themselves,  thanks  to  their  energy,  and  they  now  pride  them- 
selves on  their  rich  gifts  to  the  churches  of  those  holy  martyrs 
against  whom  the  Romans  formerly  raged  with  fire  and  sword."  1 

Now  that  such  national  feeling  prevailed,  Pagan  pomp  and  its 
mythological  accompaniment  were  no  longer  secure  in  the  Latin 
schools  of  the  country.  In  course  of  time  oratory  came  more 
and  more  to  adopt  the  Christian  language ;  the  celebrities  of 
Olympus  had  lost  their  meaning,  and  were  understood  only  by 
the  few.  In  the  schools  of  the  grammarians,  heathen  subjects  had 
to  take  a  back  place,  though  they  were  not  swept  away,  and  at  a 
later  period,  especially  in  that  of  the  Carolings,  were  again  to  see 
a  better  day. 

Compilations  and  Handbooks 

460.  One  literary  distinction  of  that  age  was  the  useful 
educational  books  it  bequeathed  to  posterity. 

It  produced  a  number  of  works,  which,  though  only  of 
middling  character  so  far  as  style  and  contents  were  concerned, 
enjoyed  an  extraordinary  popularity  during  subsequent  ages, 
especially  in  the  schools,  and  thus  handed  down  to  latter  times 
the  treasures  of  knowledge  and  civilisation  salved  from  the  ship- 
wreck of  classical  antiquity. 

Of  such  a  stamp  was,  for  instance,  the  poem  of  Arator, 
the  Roman  subdeacon,  on  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  So 
largely  was  it  studied  in  the  Middle  Ages,  that,  though  it 
scarcely  deserved  the  honour,  it  became  a  kind  of  Christian 
Virgil.  It  was,  indeed,  not  devoid  of  educational  value,  and 
was  pervaded  by  a  breath  of  classicism,  but  its  allegorism 
fostered  the  inclination  of  mediaeval  poets  and  men  of  letters 
for  fanciful  allusions.2 

In  a  different  field,  the  works  of  Cassiodorus  were  likewise 

1  Wattenbach,  Deutschlands  Gcschichtsquellcn*,  I,  90.  Cp.  Waitz,  \'erfassungs- 
gesch.9,  2,  1,  122  ff. ;  Teuffel-Schwabe,  p.  1230. 

2  On  Arator's  "  Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  see  vol.  ii.  p.  339  ff. 


no.46o]  SIXTH-CENTURY  WRITERS  199 


used  as  handbooks  in  the  West,  forming,  as  they  did,  real 
arsenals  of  scholarship.  Next  came  the  pleasant  and  attractive 
Dialogues  of  Gregory  the  Great,  with  their  abundance  of  mira- 
culous incident,  which  gratified  the  taste  for  legend.  Of  a  rather 
earlier  date  were  the  profound  works  of  Boethius,  the  Latin 
translations  of  the  speculative,  mystical  books  called  after 
Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  the  compilations  of  Dionysius 
Exiguus,  &c. 

Cassiodorus  justly  praises  the  monk  Dionysius  Exiguus  for 
having  made,  by  his  translations,  the  elements  of  Greek  Chris- 
tian culture  more  intelligible  to  the  West.  "  True,  he  was 
Scythian  by  descent,"  says  Cassiodorus,  "  but  his  training  was 
Roman.  He  was  versed  in  Greek  and  Latin  learning,  and  so 
sure  was  he  of  both  languages,  that,  without  the  slightest  hesi- 
tation, he  could  read  a  Greek  work  in  Latin,  or  a  Latin  one 
in  Greek."  In  Rome  Dionysius  busied  himself  in  the  service 
of  the  Holy  See,  compiling,  from  sources  both  Greek  and 
Western,  facts  of  law  and  tradition  ;  he  also  translated  into 
Latin  important  works  of  the  Greek  Fathers.1 

Cassiodorus,  his  friend  and  admirer,  had  himself  the  merit 
of  having  made  known  the  Byzantine  church-historians  to  the 
mediaeval  schools  by  means  of  his  famous  Historia  tripartita. 

Two  members  of  the  Roman  clergy  also  occupied  themselves 
during  the  sixth  century  with  translations  from  the  Greek. 
John,  a  subdeacon,  in  collaboration  with  Pelagius  (later  Pope 
Pelagius  I.),  translated  the  "  Sayings  of  the  Early  Fathers,"  an 
ascetic  work  intended  for  edification.  Another  John,  a  deacon, 
compiled  an  "Exposition  of  the  Heptateuch"  from  the  writings 
of  the  various  Fathers.  A  similar  work,  on  the  Gospels, 
belongs  either  to  this  latter  writer  or  to  Victor,  Bishop  of 
Capua  (t554).  To  the  last  belongs,  besides  other  writings,  a 
translation  of  the  "  Harmony  of  the  Gospels "  in  Greek  by 
Ammonius  Saccas,  and  a  "Scholia  to  Genesis,"  compiled  from 
Greek  Christian  writers.2 

These  works,  albeit  they  betray  considerable  industry,  have 
no  claim  to  originality,  but  they  drew  attention  to  the  treasures 

1  Cassiodorus  on  Dionysius  in  Instit.,  c.  23. 

2  The  work  of  John  the  Subdeacon  was  included  in  the  Vitae  Patrum,  ed.  Rosweyd 
(P.L.,  LXXIII.,  851.  On  Joan.  Diac,  Exposition  in  Heptatcuchum,  see  Pitra,  Spicil. 
So/es/nense,  1,  278  ff.  The  Exposition  in  Evangelia,  ibid.,  Praef.,  p.  LVIII.  ff.  On 
Victor,  Bishop  of  Capua,  see  P.L.,  LXVIII.  ;  Bardenhevver,  p.  584. 


200 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.461 


of  Greek  literature  at  a  time  when  Rome,  being  once  more 
under  Byzantine  authority,  could  only  gain  by  appropriating 
the  wisdom  of  the  East.  The  Greek  monasteries  in  Rome  and 
in  Southern  Italy  subsequently  also  busied  themselves  with 
translation  work  on  a  large  scale,  though,  unfortunately,  they 
confined  themselves  too  much  to  the  favourite  sphere  of  pious 
legends. 

The  so-called  Bible  Catenae,  which  made  their  appearance 
in  the  West  during  the  Middle  Ages,  form  a  continuation  of 
the  writings  just  mentioned.  People  liked  to  string  together 
thus  the  pronouncements  of  antiquity,  passage  by  passage,  like 
the  links  of  a  chain.  The  plan  upon  which  such  books  were 
based  embodied  the  Catholic  principle  that  it  is  in  the  light  of 
tradition  that  Holy  Scripture  must  be  interpreted ;  the  method 
adopted  can,  however,  scarcely  be  recommended  as  a  literary 
model.  To  these  works  we  owe  it,  nevertheless,  that  many 
books  of  the  primitive  Church,  which  would  otherwise  have 
been  utterly  lost,  are  here  represented  by  excerpts.  Down  to 
our  own  day  discoveries  continue  to  be  made  of  fragments 
of  early  authors  buried  among  these  once  neglected  works  of 
theological  literature.1 

461.  Obviously,  among  the  scant  literary  work  of  the 
period,  books  on  religion  were  bound  to  preponderate,  one 
reason  being  that  culture  had  retired  beneath  the  shelter  of 
the  Church  and  the  monasteries,  and  another  that  religious  and 
moral  subjects,  amidst  the  prevailing  misery,  were  preferred  to 
things  profane.  Yet,  even  then,  besides  the  school-books  and 
classics,  a  few  secular  tales,  to  all  intents  and  purposes  novels, 
found  a  limited  circle  of  readers. 

About  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  a  secular  poet,  who 
was,  however,  a  Christian,  Maximian  the  Tuscian,  gave  a 
detailed  account  of  his  amorous  adventures,  not  without  some 
unsavoury  interludes.  This  book  is  seldom  heard  of.  The 
romantic  history  of  Apollonius,  King  of  Tyre,  enjoyed  a  wider 
circulation.  This  is  a  translation,  made  in  the  sixth  century, 
of  a  Greek  work  by  a  Pagan,  dating  from  the  third  century  or 
even  earlier.  The  Christian  has  translated  it  freely  into  Latin, 
leaving  plentiful  traces  of  the  debased  speech  of  his  age,  for 

1  Cp.  e.g.  Pitra,  Spicil.  Solesmense,  1,  and  the  Praefatio,  p.  L.  ff. 


No.  461] 


PRUDENTIUS 


20 1 


colloquial  Latin  enters  largely  into  the  book.  The  description, 
moreover,  lacks  vitality,  and  reminds  one  of  the  narratives 
produced  by  the  Greek  sophists.  Venantius  Fortunatus  once 
alludes  to  this  "shipwrecked  Apollonius."  The  tale,  in  new 
translations,  found  its  way  into  the  literature  of  the  Romance 
languages.1 

We  can  easily  gather  from  casual  remarks  by  contempo- 
raries which  books  exercised  the  greatest  fascination  and  were 
most  widely  read  in  Rome,  especially  in  clerical  circles. 

Preference  was  given  to  the  lives  of  the  saints  and  to  histori- 
cal books,  and,  during  the  fifth  and  part  of  the  sixth  century,  to 
the  better  and  more  cultivated  of  the  pious  historians.  The  first 
place  belonged  to  Sulpicius  Severus,  the  elegant  Aquitanian, 
surnamed  the  "  Christian  Sallust,"  with  his  Life  of  St.  Martin 
of  Tours,  his  Dialogues,  and  his  two  volumes  of  Chronicles. 
When  his  Life  of  St.  Martin  reached  Rome,  he  tells  us  that 
"it  was  fought  for,  while  booksellers  declared  that  nothing  had 
ever  been  so  quickly  sold,  and  at  so  high  a  price."  Among 
the  popular  books  were  the  Lives  of  the  Fathers,  by  Rufinus 
of  Aquileia,  who  brought  before  his  readers  the  strange  world 
of  the  Nitrian  desert  and  its  penitent  ascetics — a  fine  subject, 
indeed,  though  not  handled  with  the  skill  of  Sulpicius  Severus. 
There  was  also  that  favourite  of  the  best  classes,  Paulinus  of 
Nola,  the  gentle,  tender  poet  who  so  vividly  described  church 
life  from  every  point  of  view.  In  certain  select  circles  attach- 
ment was  shown  to  the  grave  letters  and  writings  of  St.  Jerome, 
in  which  feeling  and  power  combine  with  a  vast  scholarship, 
and  in  which  passages  are  not  unfrequently  met  which  display 
genuine  oratorical  art.2 

Prudentius,  the  lively,  inspiriting  Spanish  poet,  was  im- 
mensely popular,  particularly  his  scenes  from  the  history  of  the 
martyrs,  which  are  notable  for  their  vivid  colouring  and  deep 
feeling.  His  Psychomachia,  or  "  Soul's  Combat,"  an  allegory 
of  the  virtues  and  the  vices,  was  eagerly  perused  by  ascetics 
of  either  sex.    St.  Avitus  of  Vienne,  for  instance,  in  a  letter  to 

1  On  Maximian,  see  Teuffel-Schwabe,  1274  ff.  On  King  Apollonius,  ibid.,  1272. 
Fortunatus,  Can/!.,  6,  n.  8. 

2  Sulpicius  Severus  speaks  of  the  sale  of  his  books  in  Dial.  1,  c.  23.  His  Life  of  St. 
Martin  is  not  free  from  exaggeration,  nor  has  he  shown  due  caution  in  his  selection  of 
the  Saint's  reputed  miracles.  RUFINUS,  Vitae  Patrum,  sometimes  spoken  of  as  Historia 
eremitica  or  monachorum.    On  Paulinus  of  Nola,  see  present  work,  vol.  i.  p.  53. 


202 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.46i 


his  sister,  Fuscina,  quotes  from  this  work  the  description  of  the 
battle  between  chastity  and  sensuality.  Fuscina  was  well  able 
to  judge  the  value  of  this  book,  for,  besides  the  whole  of  the 
Bible,  she  had  read  all  the  Latin  religious  poets.1 

The  Psychomachia,  to  which  her  brother  referred  her,  is  a 
peculiar  and  quite  original  work.  It  is  the  first  example  of  a 
purely  allegorical  poem  in  the  literature  of  the  West,  and  was 
in  great  measure  responsible  for  the  extent  to  which  this  form 
of  art  was  cultivated  in  the  Middle  Ages.  In  some  sense  it 
depicts  the  spiritual  combat  which  actually  took  place  on  the 
threshold  of  the  Middle  Ages  between  Paganism  and  Chris- 
tianity, between  barbarian  cruelty  and  passion  and  Christian 
morality.  Many  items  contained  in  it  applied  equally  well 
to  the  centuries  after  Prudentius,  and  corresponded  to 
circumstances  still  obtaining  in  the  early  Middle  Ages.  For 
instance,  he  brings  "Idolatry"  on  the  scene  with  her  forehead 
bound  with  a  fillet,  after  the  fashion  of  the  heathen  priests ;  he 
also  describes  how  "Idolatry"  assails  "Faith,"  a  humble  figure 
in  peasant's  dress,  who  comes  forward  to  meet  her  adversary 
with  her  arms  and  shoulders  bared,  ready  for  the  fray.  "Sen- 
suality," in  this  poem,  is  shown  as  the  greatest  of  the  Furies, 
bearing  a  torch  of  burning  brimstone,  with  which  she  attacks 
"  Chastity,"  trying  to  strike  her  bashful  eyes  with  the  flame, 
only  to  be  finally  overcome  and  to  perish  by  the  sword.  Next 
comes  "Pride"  with  lofty  headgear.  "Luxury"  is  a  tipsy 
dancer  on  a  chariot  drawn  by  four  horses.  "  Avarice,"  with  her 
followers,  as  with  a  pack  of  wolves,  eagerly  rummages  among 
the  slain  lying  on  the  forsaken  battle-field.  She  seizes  men  of 
all  classes,  even  priests  of  the  Lord ;  but  "  Reason "  protects 
the  tempted,  and  the  wounds  they  receive  are  not  dangerous. 
Finally,  "  Good  Works  "  {Operatio)  fells  "  Avarice  "  to  the  ground.2 

The  power  of  such  imaginative  descriptions  depended  entirely 
on  the  manner  of  treatment.  Those  who  were  afterward  to 
venture  on  the  seas  of  allegory  did  not  all  steer  clear  of  rocks 
with  as  much  success  and  skill  as  Prudentius. 

1  Avitus,  De  consolatoria  laude  castitatis  ad  Fuscinam  sororem,  v.  370  ff.  Pruden- 
tius, Psychomachia,  P.L.,  LX.,  11  ff. 

2  In  the  Psychomachia,  v.  585,  the  poet  depicts  the  victory  of  "operatio"  over 
"  avaritia  "  as  follows  :  "  Mentis  avaritia  stupefactis  sensibus  haesit,  \  Ccrta  morij  nam 
quae  frandis  via  restet,  ut  ipsa  \  Calcatrix  mundi,  mundanis  victa  fatiscat  \  Illecebris, 
spretoque  iierum  sese  implicet  aitro  ?  \  Invadit  trepidant  virtus  fortissima  duris  \  Ulnarum 
nodis,  obliso  et  gutture  frangit  \  Exsanguem  siccamque  gulam  ..." 


no. 462]         LEGENDS  AND  APOCRYPHA 


Decay  of  Historical  Work,  and  Want  of  Historical 
Knowledge — The  Apocrypha  in  Art 

462.  Fancy,  used  judiciously  as  it  was  by  Prudentius  in  the 
work  just  mentioned,  was  of  service  in  the  composition  and 
adornment  of  the  "moralities"  which  enjoyed  such  favour  in 
the  Middle  Ages.  In  historical  works,  however,  it  had  no  right 
to  the  first  place,  nor  indeed  to  any  footing  whatever,  in  so  far  as 
it  distorted  the  truth  of  what  was  related.  Nevertheless,  at  the 
time  with  which  we  are  dealing,  and  still  more  later  on,  imagina- 
tion was  encroaching  in  an  alarming  manner  on  the  preserves  of 
history.  In  reputedly  historical  works,  the  fancy  of  this  period  of 
decay  freely  created  incidents  and  events,  the  will  being  father  to 
the  deed.  Spurious  manuscripts  were  circulated  in  far  greater 
number  than  ever  before.  The  sense  of  historical  veracity  was 
gradually  lost,  writers  delighting  in  the  extraordinary  and 
miraculous. 

Doubtless  this  phenomenon  was  bound  up  with  the  general 
decline  of  education,  for  want  of  culture  delivered  writers  from  the 
older  restraints,  and  led  readers  to  accept  childishly  everything 
that  was  put  before  them.  Hence  comes,  amongst  our  available 
sources  of  information,  that  confusion  of  the  boundary-line  between 
imagination  and  reality  in  regard  to  all  incidents  of  the  past, 
which  compels  the  historian  to  be  cautious  at  every  step,  unless  he 
is  ready  to  take  apocryphal  information  for  genuine,  and  fall  victim 
to  alluring  pious  fancies. 

In  an  historical  work  like  the  present,  it  must  seem  justifiable 
to  consider  in  some  detail  this  reckless  output  of  unveracious 
history  which  accompanied  Rome's  intellectual  decline.  The 
reader  can  only  gain  by  bestowing  his  attention  on  the  in- 
stances of  mental  aberration  which  we  shall  cite,  and  by  visiting 
the  laboratories  whence  these  forgeries  proceeded.  Respect  for 
the  unadulterated  historical  sources  of  the  past  will  in  no  wise  be 
diminished  when  we  recognise  the  impurity  which  occasionally 
sullied  them.  For  one  thing,  we  may  learn  that  many  of  the 
falsehoods  are  of  a  much  less  harmful  character,  and  much  more 
innocent  in  their  origin,  than  the  detractors  of  the  Middle  Ages 
would  have  us  believe.1 

1  Cp.  Delehaye,  Les  ligendes  hagio^rapliiqucs  {Rev.  des  quest,  hist.,  74,  1903), 
p.  56  ff. 


204 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  463 


So  far  as  Rome  is  concerned,  it  is  true  that  many  apocryphal 
works  were  produced  there,  that  they  frequently  hailed  from 
clerical  circles,  were  sanctioned  and  made  use  of,  in  entire  good 
faith,  by  the  Curia,  and  even  found  their  way  into  the  official  Papal 
Registers.  The  authors  may  however  be,  if  not  exculpated,  at 
least  to  some  extent  excused  through  the  general  prevalence  of 
the  abuse.  As  for  the  Popes  who  availed  themselves  of  such 
documents,  the  only  charge  to  which  they  are  usually  open,  is  that 
they  were  not  in  advance  of  their  day,  and  that,  in  the  midst  of 
a  period  entirely  lacking  in  criticism,  they  had  not  at  their 
headquarters  any  tribunal  which  might  have  sifted  the  historical 
inaccuracies  then  in  circulation 

463.  A  favourite  ground  for  fanciful  legend-mongers  was  to  be 
found  in  the  Bible  narrative. 

Old  and  New  Testament  Apocrypha  had  been  in  circulation 
even  earlier,  but  in  the  period  under  consideration  new  productions 
of  the  same  character  were  industriously  composed.  The  accounts 
handed  down  by  Holy  Writ  were  considered  too  meagre,  and,  in 
the  New  Testament  particularly,  exception  was  taken  to  the 
paucity  of  details  concerning  the  early  life  of  our  Lord.  Hence 
whatever  was  seen  to  be  lacking  was  boldly  supplemented  by 
forgeries,  preferably  ascribed  to  some  person  or  other  whose  name 
appears  in  the  Bible.  It  is  true  that  the  character  of  these  pro- 
ductions differed  entirely  from  the  simple,  lofty  tone  of  the  sacred 
books.  The  senseless  heaping  together  of  fantastic  statements,  not 
unfrequently  noticeable  in  them,  quite  apart  from  their  incon- 
sistencies and  contradictions,  by  their  contrast,  help  to  place  the 
lasting  value  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  still  clearer  light. 

No  doubt  in  some  cases  the  Apocrypha  of  the  New  Testament 
contain  traditions  concerning  the  life  of  Christ  or  of  the  Apostles, 
current  at  the  time  of  writing.  A  little  of  the  gold  of  genuine 
tradition  may  possibly  lie  beneath  the  mass  of  dross.  It  may  also 
be  that  this  very  circumstance,  that  some  truth  was  known  to  lurk 
in  these  spurious  writings,  contributed  to  their  acceptance  and 
dissemination.  Afterwards,  however,  when  their  real  origin  had 
been  lost  to  sight  in  the  mists  of  time,  just  because  of  the  varied 
and  fantastic  character  of  their  contents,  they  continued  to  exercise 
their  old  attraction.  The  Fathers  of  the  Church  often  raised  a 
protest  against  this  exuberant  literature,  and  it  was  because  of  it 


no. 463]  BIBLICAL  APOCRYPHA 


205 


that  the  Church  drew  up  the  Canon  of  the  authentic  books  of  the 
Bible.  Although  these  productions  were  thereby  forbidden  to  be 
read  in  the  churches  or  to  be  used  in  the  liturgy,  they  held  their 
ground  far  and  wide  as  books  for  private  reading. 

The  "  Gelasian  decree"  instances  no  less  than  nine  Gospels, 
forged,  and  set  into  circulation  under  false  names :  those  of 
Matthias,  Peter,  James  the  Less,  Barnabas,  Thomas,  Bartholomew, 
and  Andrew,  and  two  others  ascribed  to  Lucian  and  Hesychius. 
As  for  Apostolic  "Acts,"  presuming  to  imitate  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  four  are  mentioned  in  the  same  decree,  those  of  Thomas, 
Peter,  Philip,  and  of  Paul  and  Thecla.  An  "  Itinerarium  bear- 
ing the  name  of  Peter,  and  called  after  St.  Clement,"  alluded  to  in 
the  same  passage,  is  the  well-known  Periodoi  Petrou,  usually  called 
the  "  Clementine  Recognitions."  1 

Nevertheless,  in  the  Rome  of  the  fifth  century,  the  general 
attitude  towards  such  Apocrypha,  so  long  as  their  character  was 
orthodox,  was  friendly  to  such  a  degree  that  their  unsupported 
narratives  were  adopted  without  ado  by  Christian  artists  as  fit 
subjects  to  be  immortalised  on  monuments. 

Until  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  Christian  art  was 
chary  of  reproducing  scenes  from  the  Biblical  Apocrypha,  and 
no  trace  of  their  influence  is  found.  The  subjects  chosen  bear 
witness  to  the  artists'  esteem  for  the  authentic  Scriptures,  but 
contain  no  hint  of  the  existence  of  spurious  ones.  Only  when 
all  danger  had  passed  of  weakening  the  authority  of  the  canonical 
Gospels,  by  adding  details  from  the  uncanonical  books,  did  the 
Church  allow  artists  to  make  use  of  such  narratives  as  were 
considered  to  possess  some  worth. 

The  earliest  instance  of  a  whole  scene  from  the  Apocrypha 
occurs  on  the  Triumphal  Arch  in  the  Esquiline  Basilica  of 
Sta.  Maria  Maggiore,  that  grand  work  dating  from  the  years 
following  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  which  we  have  already 
described  (vol.  ii.  p.  33  ff.). 

Among  the  other  large  mosaics  on  the  Arch,  which  depicted 
scenes  from  the  childhood  of  Jesus  and  are  taken  from  the 
canonical  Gospels,  there  is  one  which  gave  rise  to  great  diffi- 
culty in  its  interpretation.  It  was  often  supposed  to  represent 
the  child  Jesus  among  the  doctors  in  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem. 
It  has,  however,  been  proved  to  be  merely  a  scene  recorded  in 

1  For  the  Gelasian  decree,  see  Thiel,  Epist.  row.  pont.,  p.  454  ff. 


» 


206  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  463 

the  apocryphal  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew.  We  see  the  city  on  the 
Nile,  and  Prince  Aphrodisius,  with  his  retinue  and  philosopher, 
coming  to  meet  the  Divine  Child  and  his  parents  during  their 
flight  into  Egypt,  and  exclaiming  :  "  Were  this  not  a  god  above  - 
our  gods,  their  statues  would  not  have  fallen  down  at  his  approach." 
The  mosaic  thus  demonstrates  the  godhead  of  the  Child,  the 
triumph  of  Christianity,  and  the  dignity  of  Mary.  It  is  certainly 
a  curious  fact  that,  in  the  time  of  Xystus  III.,  and  upon  so 
memorable  a  work  of  art,  apocryphal  Gospels  should  have 
been  allowed  to  mingle  their  voices  with  the  canonical  to  pro- 
claim the  Divinity  of  Christ  and  the  majesty  of  Mary.1 

The  same  series  of  mosaics  contains  also  two  allusions  to  the 
apocryphal  New  Testament.  For  instance,  the  angel  Gabriel,  at 
the  Annunciation,  finds  Mary  at  work  with  the  spindle.  A 
basket  full  of  purple  yarn  stands  before  her,  of  which  she  holds 
up  a  handful  while  listening  to  the  words  of  the  angel.  The 
scene,  including  the  item  of  the  purple  yarn,  comes  from  the 
so-called  Proto-evangelium  Iacobi.  It  is  found  again  later,  in 
several  artistic  efforts,  particularly  on  a  sarcophagus  in  Ravenna 
(111.  21 1), 2  and  the  details  occasionally  vary,  but  it  seems  to  have 
been  first  depicted  in  the  Esquiline  church  of  Our  Lady.3 

Upon  the  same  mosaic  St.  Joseph  is,  moreover,  twice  por- 
trayed as  an  elderly  man  and  with  a  full  beard,  whereas  in  all 
early  pictures  Christ's  foster-father  appears  as  a  young  and  beard- 
less youth.  It  was  the  Apocrypha  which  related  that  Joseph  at 
his  marriage  with  Mary  was  a  widower  of  advanced  age ;  for 
instance,  the  "  Proto-evangelium  "  of  St.  James  the  Less,  and  the 
"  Gospel  of  the  Birth  of  Mary."  The  representations  having 
once  been  adopted  from  these  sources  in  the  mosaic  of  Xystus 
III.,  soon  became  more  and  more  general.4 

1  This  is  the  explanation  given  by  DE  Rossi,  Musaici,  sec.  v.,  and  previously  in  DE 
Waal,  Die  apokryphen  Evangelien  in  der  altchristl.  Kunst,  in  the  Rom.  Quar/alschr.,  i 
(1887),  189,  giving  a  reference  to  pseudo-Matthew,  c.  24.  Both  writers  give  coloured  repro- 
ductions. Cp.  J.  P.  RlCHTER,  Di  ten  raro  soggetto  rappresetitato  nei  mosaici della  basilica 
Liberiana,  in  Nuovo  Bull,  di  arch,  crist.,  1899,  p.  137  ff. ,  with  a  photo.  Richter  and 
Taylor,  The  Golden  Age,  &c,  1904.    Garrucci,  Arte  crist.,  PI.  214. 

2  A.  LlELL,  Die  Darstellungen  der  allersel.  Jungfrau,  p.  214.    Kraus,  Gesch.  der 
chrisil.  Ku/ist,  p.  189. 

3  Cp.  Realencykl.  der  chrisil.  Altcrth.,  2,  936.    Proto-evangelium  Iacobi,  c.  10  ff. 

4  De  ROSSI,  Bull.  arch,  crisl.,  1865,  p.  31.  The  church  of  S.  Maria  Antiqua  on  the 
Forum,  excavated  in  1900  (cp.  present  work,  vol.  i.  p.  244  ff.),  had  in  its  right  aisle  some 
scenes  from  Mary's  childhood,  drawn  from  apocryphal  sources.  They,  however,  dated 
from  the  latter  half  of  the  eighth  century.  Cp.  WlLPERT,  Byzant.  Zeitschr.,  14  (1905), 
p.  581  ff. 


no. 464]  BIBLICAL  APOCRYPHA 


207 


464.  How  subjects  from  the  Apocrypha  took  early  possession 
of  Christian  art  is  clearly  seen  on  St.  Maximian's  episcopal  chair 
at  Ravenna,  which,  with  its  ivory  panels,  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  works  of  art  of  Christian  antiquity.1 

Here  we  not  only  find  Mary,  at  the  Annunciation,  with  the 
basket  of  yarn  beside  her,  and  the  distaff  in  her  left  hand,  as  well 
as  an  aged  and  bearded  St.  Joseph,  but  there  are  also  two  singular 
representations  of  the  experiments  by  which  Mary's  innocence  in 
Christ's  conception  and  her  virginity  after  His  birth  were  said  by 
the  Apocrypha  to  have  been  demonstrated.  In  one  case  she  is 
seen  in  the  presence  of  St.  Joseph  and  an  angel,  drinking  the 
water  of  ordeal,  which,  according  to  pseudo  St.  Matthew  and 
other  Apocrypha,  caused  a  spot  to  appear  on  the  face  of  the 
guilty.  In  the  other,  Salome,  in  testimony  to  the  postpuerperal 
virginity  of  Mary,  holds  up  the  hand  that  had  withered  in 
punishment  of  her  presumption.2 

The  scene  with  Salome  and  the  midwife  seems  to  have  exer- 
cised great  attraction  on  Christian  writers  and  artists.  In  spite  of 
St.  Jerome's  justifiable  protests,  it  was  turned  to  account  by  the 
ecclesiastical  writer  Zeno,  and  even  by  Prudentius.  In  the  Roman 
Catacombs  of  St.  Valentine  we  can  still  make  out  the  word 
"  Salome,"  written  vertically  on  a 
seventh  or  eighth  century  pic- 
ture, where  this  subject  appears. 
The  mosaics  of  John  VII.,  in  St. 
Peter's,  a  work  of  the  beginning  of 
the  eighth  century,  also  made  great 
use  of  the  tale.3 

The  well-known  representation        111.212.— Christ's  nativity. 

.     .       »T     .    .  -11  i  (Mantua.) 

01  the  Nativity,  with  the  ox  and 

the  ass,  as  it  appears  upon  the  above-mentioned  bishop's  chair 
at  Ravenna,  and  upon  many  other  works  of  art  belonging  to 
the  years  after  343  (111.  212  and  213),  is  by  no  means  necessarily 
borrowed  from  the  Apocrypha,  for  the  tradition  concerning  the 
animals  appears  elsewhere  too.     Even  St.  Jerome,  who  is  so 

1  GARRUCCI,  Arte  crisL,  6,  PI.  415  ff.  Cp.  SCHULTZE,  Archdologie  der  altchristl. 
Kunst  (1895),  PP-  I29,  281. 

2  On  the  water  of  ordeal,  see  Garrucci,  PI.  417,  2.    On  Salome,  417,  4. 

3  Hieronymus,  Contra  Helvidium,  c.  8  :  P.L.,  XXIII.,  192  :  "Nulla  ibi obsteirix,"  &c. 
De  Waal,  ibid.,  183,  note  2.  MARUCCHI,  //  cimitero  e  la  basilica  di  S.  Valentino,  p.  63  ff. 
Garrucci,  2,  PI.  84.  On  the  mosaic  of  John  VII.,  see  Garrucci,  4,  PI.  280,  2  ;  281,  1. 
For  the  tale,  see  Proto-evangelinm  of  James  (in  Hone,  Apocryphal  N.T.),  xiv.,  15  ff. 


208  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  465 

severe  on  the  Apocrypha,  was  disposed  to  allow  this  idea  of  the 
crib  to  pass.1 

On  the  other  hand,  another  detail  upon  Maximian's  chair 
certainly  comes  from  the  apocryphal  Gospels.  During  the 
journey  to  Bethlehem,  when  the  time  for  Mary's  delivery  had 
arrived,  an  angel  stops  the  sumpter-mule  by  the  bridle,  and 
directs  the  mother  into  a  cave  by  the  wayside.  This  is  a 
scene  from  the  so-called  "Gospel  of  the  Birth  of  Mary,"  which 
gives  the  legend  in  full.2 

To  those  accustomed  to  seek  reliable  historical  information  in 
the  sources  and  monuments,  it  is  surprising  to  find,  thus  mingled 
together  in  such  early  times,  fiction  and  genuine  tradition.  The 
critical  habits  of  our  times  would  impose  a  more  cautious  pro- 


IU.  213. — Christ's  Nativity.  (Lateran.) 


cedure,  but  in  those  ages  people  gloried  in  holding,  in  its  entirety, 
the  complete  story  of  Christ.  There  was  as  yet  no  need  to 
defend  the  genuine  witnesses  of  evangelical  truth,  and  to  safe- 
guard their  authority  by  carefully  removing  them  from  the 
suspicious  society  of  the  Apocrypha.  Hence  the  permission 
occasionally  given  to  the  latter,  so  long  as  their  character  was 
above  suspicion  of  heresy,  to  wind  their  creepers  around  the 
strong  trunk  of  truth,  for  the  health  of  which  no  fear  was 
entertained. 

465.  The  example  set  by  the  biblical  Apocrypha  was  mean- 
while being  followed  in  many  other  spheres.  In  the  field  of 
Church  History,  especially  in  narratives  concerning  the  saints 

1  De  Rossi,  Bull,  arch,  crist.,  1877,  p.  141.  See  figure  of  the  Cathedra  in  Garrucci, 
6,  PI.  417,  4.  A.  West,  //  due  e  V asino  nella  legenda  della  Nativita  (II  Rinnovamento, 
1907,  p.  482  ff.).  Cabrol,  Diet.  d'Are/i.,  art.  Ane,  1,  2048.  Illustrations  212,  213,  from 
LlELL,  Die  Darstellitngen  Maria,  pp.  222,  271  ;  KRAUS,  Gesch.  d.  ehr.  Kunst,  p.  171. 

2  Garrucci,  6,  PI.  417,  3. 


no.465]  FICTION  AND  HISTORY  209 

and  martyrs,  and  accounts  dealing  with  the  foundation  of  the 
different  churches — many  writers  being  led  by  local  patriotism 
to  magnify  the  importance  of  their  own  community — all  sorts  of 
fictitious  accounts  were  produced,  and  documents,  purporting  to 
be  original  charters,  were  not  seldom  forged  outright. 

The  propagation  of  such  untruths  and  forgeries  was  much 
facilitated  by  the  fact  that  few  works  of  strictly  historical  contents 
existed  in  the  Church — few  books,  that  is,  of  wide  scope  and 
written  in  a  scholarly  spirit,  which  might  have  served  to  expose 
and  confute  these  fabrications.  In  the  West  there  existed  no 
general  history  of  the  Church,  let  alone  any  particular  history  of 
the  Popes  or  of  the  Councils  or  of  Canon  Law.  In  the  East  the 
Church  was  indeed  somewhat  better  off.  The  Greeks  were  justly 
proud  of  the  classical  Church  History  of  Eusebius,  written  in  the 
fourth  century,  and  continued  in  the  fifth  by  Socrates,  Sozomen, 
and,  above  all,  by  that  ripe  scholar,  Theodoret.  They  also  had 
the  advantage  of  possessing  many  historical  works  devoted  to 
particular  matters. 

Against  all  this  the  Latins  could  only  put  a  poor,  faulty 
version  of  the  Eusebian  Church  History,  by  the  careless  pen  of 
Rufinus,  in  which,  moreover,  very  little  is  said  of  Western  affairs, 
or  of  the  Popes.  Jerome,  indeed,  translated  and  brought  up  to 
date  the  chronological  tables  from  the  chronicle  of  Eusebius,  but 
this  furnished  but  a  meagre  source  of  history.  The  same  Father 
also  composed  a  little  work  of  his  own,  De  viris  illustribus  sett  de 
scriptoribus  ecclesiasticis,  a  book  which  contains  some  valuable 
information,  but  which  is  also  very  inadequate,  and  teems  with 
extraordinary  oversights  and  blunders.1 

Sulpicius  Severus,  likewise,  provided  the  West  with  a  history 
or  sacred  chronicle  written  in  403.  It  was  in  excellent  Latin, 
but  dealt  very  scantily  with  the  Christian  period.  Cassiodorus, 
towards  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  in  his  Historia  Tripartita 
did  no  more  than  fuse  together  translations  and  excerpts  from 
Socrates,  Sozomen,  and  Theodoret. 

History  was  thus  something  alien,  and  the  prevailing  lack  of 
instruments  for  study  made  it  easy  for  people  to  be  misled  into 
accepting,  in  all  good  faith,  false  and  spurious  accounts  as  true. 

1  SYCHOWSKI  (Hieronymus  als  Literarhistoriker,  1894)  points  out  Jerome's  limita- 
tions (Kirchengesck.  Studien,  ed.  Knopfler,  Schrors  and  Sdralek,  vol.  ii.  fasc.  2)  ; 
cp.  Bernoulli  (Der  Schriftstellcrkatalog  des  Hieronymus,  1895). 

VOL.  III.  O 


2IO 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[NO.  465 


The  want  of  historical  records  of  the  Church  was  responsible 
for  mistakes  even  in  documents  emanating  from  the  Popes. 

As  an  instance  in  point,  we  may  cite  what  happened  under 
Pope  Zosimus.  Patroclus,  Bishop  of  Aries,  who  was  unduly 
anxious  to  enhance  the  dignity  of  his  see,  assured  Pope  Zosimus 
that  the  Church  of  Aries  owed  its  foundation  to  an  immediate 
disciple  of  St.  Peter,  viz.  to  St.  Trophimus,  from  whom  Aries 
first,  and  then  the  rest  of  Gaul,  had  received  the  Faith.  Upon 
this  Zosimus,  who  was  only  too  ready  to  place  reliance  on  the 
assurances  of  others,  in  all  innocence  repeated  these  statements 
in  a  letter  to  Gaul.  Later  Gregory  the  Great,  taking  his  clue 
from  this  earlier  letter  addressed  to  Gaul,  in  an  important  epistle 
to  the  Bishop  of  Aries,  alludes  to  the  conversion  of  the  whole  of 
Gaul  by  the  Apostle's  disciple.  In  spite  of  this  the  statement  is 
no  way  borne  out  by  history.  Even  from  the  Frankish  historian, 
Gregory  of  Tours,  who  was  almost  a  contemporary  of  Gregory 
the  Great,  we  may  gather  with  certainty  that  there  was  no  accre- 
dited or  even  probable  tradition  in  Gaul  in  favour  of  such  a  sup- 
position. He  contents  himself  with  mentioning  concerning  Aries, 
that  under  the  Emperor  Decius,  i.e.  in  the  third  century,  St. 
Trophimus  came  as  Bishop  to  Aries.  If,  in  spite  of  this,  the 
sending  of  Trophimus  by  St.  Peter  was  in  the  Middle  Ages 
reckoned  an  established  fact,  it  is  obvious  that  the  statements  of 
Popes  Zosimus  and  Gregory  I.  cannot  avail  to  confirm  it.  Hence 
history,  in  view  of  the  difficulties,  of  which  we  have  men- 
tioned only  one,  is  justified  in  demanding  better  proofs  before 
conceding,  not  the  bare  possibility  of  that  early  conversion 
of  Gaul  by  St.  Peter's  disciple,  but  that  such  a  thing  really 
occurred.1 

The  Popes  had  evidently  no  series  episcoporum  of  all  the 
Churches  of  Christendom,  such  as  those  now  being  compiled  at 
the  cost  of  so  much  toil.  Had  Rome  been  prompter  in  compiling 
Annals  of  Church  History,  many  mistakes  would  have  been 
avoided.  The  first  centuries  were,  however,  a  time  for  action 
rather  than  for  writing.  The  great  tasks  of  the  Church  were 
being  performed  without  the  historical  retrospection  or  research 
which  belong  to  a  more  modern  but  less  productive  age.  Even 

1  GREG.  Tur.,  Hist.  Franc,  1,  c.  28.  ZOSIMUS,  Ep.  ad  Hilarium,  Mansi,  4,  364  ; 
Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  332.  Greg.  M.,  Registrum,  5,  n.  58  (5,  n.  53),  ad,  Virgilium.  Cp. 
Duchesne,  Fastes  cpiscopanx  de  Pancienne  Gaule,  1,  104,  120.  Cp.  A.  Houtin,  La 
cont?-overse  de  1'  apostolicite  des  Eglises  de  France  au  XIX"  siec/e3,  1903. 


No.  466] 


SPURIOUS  CANONS 


2 1 1 


at  the  Apostolic  period,  when  the  Church  was  being  planted 
throughout  vast  tracts  of  country,  no  imperative  need  made  itself 
felt  to  commit  to  writing  the  story  of  the  journeys  and  vicissitudes 
of  the  divinely  appointed  preachers.  The  Church  was  not  built 
upon  history  and  learning,  but  upon  the  abiding  deeds  of  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

466.  The  earliest  canons  and  laws  of  the  Church  shared  the 
fate  of  its  history.  At  first  no  attempt  was  made  to  collect  them 
carefully,  an  omission  which  may  easily  be  explained  and  excused, 
but  which  made  it  possible  for  spurious  collections  to  spring  up, 
for  instance,  the  so-called  Apostolic  Constitutions  and  Apostolic 
Canons,  which  usurped  great  authority.  Forgeries  were  im- 
prudently allowed  to  establish  themselves  wherever  there  was  an 
opening. 

In  Rome,  custom  and  practice  formed  good  guides  for  the 
administration  of  Canon  Law,  even  apart  from  the  archives 
deposited  in  the  Lateran.  It  is  also  possible  that  collections 
existed  of  which  we  now  are  ignorant.  At  any  rate  the  East  was 
in  advance  of  the  West  as  much  with  regard  to  codification  of 
the  laws  as  with  regard  to  written  history.  From  the  East,  in 
Latin  translations,  came  the  books  of  Canon  Law  commonly  used 
in  Italy.  Beside  the  Nicene  decrees  they  contained  those  of 
the  Councils  of  Ancyra,  Neo-Caesarea,  and  Gangra,  to  which  at 
a  later  date  were  added  those  of  Antioch,  Laodicea,  Constan- 
tinople, and  Chalcedon.  There  was  also  a  collection  of  the 
African  Councils  made  in  419.1 

The  first  to  combine  all  these  synodal  documents  was 
Dionysius  Exiguus,  a  monk  from  the  Roman  province  of  Scythia, 
living  in  Rome,  who  wrote  ca.  500.  At  the  head  of  his  collection 
he  placed  a  translation  of  the  spurious  so-called  "  Apostolic 
Canons,"  numbering  fifty,  which  till  then  had  been  unknown  in 
the  West.  Subsequently  he  added  a  collection  of  epistolary 
decretals  by  Popes  Siricius,  Innocent,  Zosimus,  Boniface,  Celestine, 
Leo,  Gelasius,  and  Anastasius  II.  Pope  Hormisdas  accepted  the 
dedication  of  a  new  edition  of  the  whole  work,  and  Pope  John  II., 
in  his  official  documents,  already  uses  it  as  the  source  of  his 
quotations  from  Councils  and   Papal  decrees.     To  Dionysius 

1  Maassen,  Gesch.  der  Quellen,  p.  66  ff.    DUCHESNE,  Liber fiont.,  1,  p.  cxxx. 


2  I  2 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.466 


Exiguus  the  Roman  Church  was  accordingly  beholden  for  an 
important  and  influential  Liber  canonum} 

The  "Apostolic  Canons"  mentioned  above  are  a  collection  of 
decrees,  late  but  genuine,  issued  by  Councils  held  in  the  fourth 
century.  The  collection  dates  from  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
century,  and  probably  originated  in  Syria  or  Palestine.  Although 
Dionysius  in  his  book  of  Canon  Law  shows  that  he  had  his 
doubts  as  to  the  Apostolic  origin  claimed  in  the  title  of  the  work, 
yet  the  place  of  honour  which  he  gave  it  certainly  did  much  to 
enhance  the  authority  of  these  decrees.  Gratian,  later  on,  included 
them  in  his  famous  code  as  genuine  regulations  of  the  Apostles, 
and  made  great  use  of  the  first  fifty.  Subsequently,  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  they  were  everywhere  deemed  true  "Apostolic" 
laws.2 

In  the  East  the  important  Council  of  Constantinople  in  692 
{i.e.  the  Trullanum  or  Quinisextuni)  decided  as  follows  in  favour 
of  these  Canons  :  "  The  Sacred  Synod  decides  that  the  85  {i.e. 
not  merely  50)  Canons  which  have  been  transmitted  to  us  under 
the  name  of  the  holy  and  venerable  Apostles,  shall  in  future 
remain  fixed  and  unaltered."3 

The  eight  books  of  the  Apostolic  Constitutions,  like  the 
Apostolic  Canons  with  which  they  are  associated,  also  originated 
at  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  and  probably  were  from  the 
pen  of  the  same  Syrian  or  Palestinian  author.  The  latter  is  thus 
proved  to  have  been  a  man  of  considerable  talent,  but  it  is  unjust 
to  argue,  as  some  recently  have  done,  that  he  was  guided  by  any 
dogmatic  or  priestly  caste-prejudice.  His  purpose  was  rather  to 
re-edit  and  render  more  available  ecclesiastical  documents  already 
then  in  existence.4 

His  work  met  with  striking  success.  The  Council  of  Con- 
stantinople in  692,  whilst  admitting  the  Apostolic  Canons,  looked 
with  suspicion  on  the  "  Constitutions."  The  very  decree  which 
speaks  of  the  former  complains  that  the  "  Constitutions  of  the 

1  The  "  Apostolic  Canons,1'  given  according  to  Dionysius,  are  found  in  Mansi,  i,  49 
ff.  Dionysius  had  them  from  the  "Apostolic  Constitutions"  (see  below).  Cp.  FUNK, 
Die  A post.  Constitutional  (1891) ;  Das  achte  Buck  der  Apost.  Constitutionen  (1893). 
Bardenhewer,  Patrologic  (1894,  §  5  :  Pseudo-apost.  Sc/iriften,  p.  31).  On  Dionysius 
Exiguus,  see  Duchesne,  I.e.  Duchesne,  in  an  address  at  the  Congress  of  Christian 
Archaeology,  held  in  Rome  in  April  1900,  alludes  to  vestiges  of  a  still  earlier  collection 
of  laws. 

2  Gratian.,  pars  I.,  dist.  16,  c.  4  :  "patet  quod non  sunt  ititer  apocrypha  deputandi" 

3  Cone.  Trull.,  can.  2  ;  Mansi,  ii,  940. 

4  See  Funk's  works  cited  in  note  1 ;  also  Bardenhewer,  Patrologie,  p.  29 


No.  467] 


FORGERIES 


213 


Holy  Apostles,  collected  by  Clement,  have  already  long  ago 
been  tampered  with  by  heretics  who  made  spurious  additions 
contrary  to  godliness  "  ;  for  this  reason  the  Council  rejected  them. 
In  spite  of  this,  Greek  theologians  and  Canonists  were  afterwards 
to  make  as  much  use  of  them  as  of  genuine  decrees.1 

Another  much-used  spurious  production  of  theologico-philo- 
sophical  content  which  Rome  and  the  West  owed  to  the  East 
was  the  cycle  of  works  circulating  under  the  name  of  Dionysius 
the  Areopagite. 

Throughout  the  Middle  Ages  their  profundity  made  them 
one  of  the  favourite  and  richest  mines  resorted  to  in  the  West 
by  theologians  and  mystics.  Even  scholars  at  the  Roman  Court, 
and  the  Popes,  looked  up  to  the  Areopagite  as  an  invaluable 
guide  to  the  understanding  of  the  deeper  truths  of  religion. 
Even  to-day  many  books  on  theology  or  asceticism,  by  writers 
whose  learning  is  not  equal  to  their  good  will,  continue  to  quote 
passages  purporting  to  have  been  written  by  the  wise  Areopagite 
of  Athens,  whom  St.  Paul  is  said  to  have  converted. 

In  reality  the  works  ascribed  to  the  Areopagite  were  not  com- 
posed until  the  last  decades  of  the  fifth  century.  They  are  by 
an  unknown  but  orthodox  author,  hailing  probably  from  Syria. 
When  they  were  for  the  first  time  put  forward  publicly — viz.  at 
the  conference  held  at  Constantinople  in  531 — they  were  promptly 
denounced  as  spurious  by  Hypatius,  Bishop  of  Ephesus.  In 
spite  of  this  they  quickly  obtained  a  footing,  and  a  hundred  years 
later  every  one  in  Rome  was  persuaded  of  their  authenticity. 
The  Lateran  Council  in  649  quoted  them  with  obvious  acknowledg- 
ment, and  praised  their  supposed  author.  In  our  day,  however, 
criticism  has  made  almost  all  scholars  agree  in  the  impossibility  of 
ascribing  them  to  Dionysius  the  Areopagite.2 

The  Roman  so-called  Symmachian  Forgeries 

467.  A  number  of  narratives  and  documents  which  have  since 
become  famous,  but  which  are  all  of  them  fictitious,  are  met  with 
in  Rome  under  the  pontificate  of  Pope  Symmachus.  These 

1  Cone.  Trull.,  I.e. 

2  J.  Stiglmayr,  Das  Aufkommen  der  pseudo-dionysianischen  Schriften  bis  649,  Feld- 
kirch,  1895,  Progranun,  p.  84,  on  the  Lateran  Council.  The  Greek  writings  are  known 
as  De  divinis  nominibus,  De  coelesti  hierarchia,  De  ecclesiastica  hierarchia,  De  thcologia 
mystica,  and  there  are,  besides,  ten  epistles. 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  467 


documents,  long  since  recognised  as  spurious,  were  forged  in  sup- 
port of  this  Pope  during  the  attacks  of  which  he  was  the  object, 
and  in  later  times,  owing  to  their  frequent  citation,  they  secured 
quite  undeservedly  a  high  position  in  Canon  Law.  At  the  same 
time  it  would  be  unjust  to  assert,  as  some  moderns  have  done,  that 
they  were  purposely  devised  to  enhance  the  authority  of  the  Papal 
See  ;  on  the  contrary,  their  character  is  private,  and  no  proof 
is  forthcoming  that  they  were  ever  used  officially  or  publicly  on 
behalf  of  Symmachus.  The  date  of  their  composition  is,  however, 
of  historical  interest,  in  that  it  shows  how  dim  the  recollection  of 
the  fourth  century  had  become  to  allow  of  so  distorted  a  version 
of  what  had  happened  being  penned  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sixth.1 

The  style  also  betrays  the  decline  in  language  and  culture. 
The  Latin,  for  instance,  is  abominable  ;  what  is  said  is  vague  and 
disconnected,  and  occasionally  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  seize  the 
writer's  meaning.  The  forgeries  thus  contrast  most  unfavourably 
with  the  genuine  documents  of  the  Roman  Curia  and  other  official 
productions  of  that  date. 

We  have  already  described  how  Pope  Symmachus  was  per- 
secuted by  the  antipope  Lawrence,  how  he  was  harassed  by  the 
interference  of  the  Civil  Court,  and  falsely  charged  with  simony 
and  immorality.  For  a  long  while  he  was  unable  to  enter  into 
possession  of  the  Papal  residence  in  the  Lateran,  and  was  com- 
pelled to  exercise  his  authority,  and  even  to  administer  Baptism, 
in  the  Vatican  Basilica.  Such  was  the  situation  when  an  un- 
known forger,  in  the  hope  of  proving  of  some  assistance,  produced 
the  documents  which  have  since  borne  the  name  of  Symmachus, 
and  which  contain  an  echo  of  the  Pope's  experiences. 

In  what  follows  we  shall  discuss  in  detail  the  contents  of  the 
whole  group  of  fictitious  legends,  first  dealing  with  the  "  Deeds 
of  Pope  Liberius  "  and  "  Deeds  of  Pope  Marcellinus,"  or  history 
of  the  Synod  of  Sinuessa. 

The  fabulous  **  Deeds  of  Pope  Liberius "  make  their  hero 
linger  in  exile  outside  Rome,  indeed,  yet  not  at  the  distance 
required  by  history.  So  near  to  the  City  was  his  place  of  banish- 
ment that  he  could  baptize  in  the  church  of  St.  Agnes,  and 
afterwards,  with  added  solemnity,  in  the  Vatican,  where  his  priest 


1  See  vol.  ii.,  p.  224  f.,  and  the  works  of  Dollinger  quoted  there. 


No.  467] 


FORGERIES 


Damasus  conveyed  the  necessary  water  to  a  new  baptistery. 
Just  as  Liberius,  in  spite  of  the  persecution  to  which  he  was 
subjected,  remained  the  rightful  and  venerated  Pope,  so  it  is  easy 
to  see  that  the  author  wishes  his  readers  to  draw  a  similar  infer- 
ence with  regard  to  Pope  Symmachus. 

It  is  curious  to  note  how  two  details  of  the  legend  afford  us 
some  insight  into  the  methods  of  its  inventor. 

One  is  the  description  of  the  work  undertaken  by  the  priest 
Damasus  for  the  building  of  the  baptistery.  It  coincides 
entirely  with  the  account  given  by  Pope  Damasus  in  a  metrical 
description,  of  which  we  possess  the  original,  of  what  he 
did  as  Pope  to  bring  water  for  baptism  into  the  baptistery 
he  had  erected  in  St.  Peter's.  Evidently  the  forger  was 
acquainted  with  the  inscription,  and  simply  recast  it  in  prose 
form.  It  is  no  rare  thing  for  legends  to  draw  upon  real  monu- 
ments and  inscriptions,  but  seldom  indeed  do  they  follow  the 
original  as  faithfully  as  here. 

The  other  detail  is  connected  with  the  baptism  of  Constantine 
the  Great.  Regarding  this  the  writer  gives  his  entire  credence 
to  the  already  existing  fable  of  the  Emperor's  baptism  at  Rome 
by  Pope  Silvester.  The  tale  is,  however,  at  variance  with  the 
clear  and  unquestionable  narrative  of  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Csesarea, 
Constantine's  contemporary  and  friend.  According  to  him  the 
Emperor  was  baptized  neither  in  Rome  nor  by  Silvester,  but  by 
Eusebius  of  Nicomedia  in  a  villa  near  Nicomedia,  at  the  very 
end  of  his  life,  i.e.  after  the  demise  of  Silvester.  In  Jerome's 
Chronicle  the  same  correct  account  is  found,  and  even  the  name 
of  the  villa,  viz.  Ancyron,  is  given.  With  these  facts  before  him, 
what  did  our  author  do  ?  His  ingenuity  was  sufficient  to  carry 
him  over  the  difficulty.  He,  too,  tells  us  of  a  baptism  conferred 
by  Eusebius  the  Bishop  at  Nicomedia,  in  a  villa  to  which  he 
gives  the  name  of  Aquilon,  evidently  a  reminiscence  of  Ancyron. 
The  person  baptized,  according  to  the  forger,  was,  however, 
Constans  or  Constantius,  Constantine's  son,  whom,  in  addition, 
he  mistakenly  describes  as  a  nephew  of  the  great  Emperor.1 

1  The  Gesta  Liberii  papac  are  printed  in  P.L.,  viii.,  1388  ff.,  from  Coustant,  Epp. 
rom. pont.,  Append.,  p.  89.  In  this  Appendix  the  other  "  Symmachian  forgeries"  will  be 
found.  Cp.  Duchesne,  Liber  pont.,  1,  p.  cxx.  ff.  See  Eusebius  on  Constantine's  bap- 
tism and  death  in  Vita  Constantini,  4,  c.  61-64.  The  narrative,  which  effectively  disposes 
of  the  tale  of  his  early  baptism  by  Silvester,  begins  with  the  words  :  'EiretSrj  8t  elf  twoiav 
r/Ku  rrji  rod  fiiov  Te\evrijs,  &c. 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  467 


It  is  worth  mentioning  here  that  this  legend  of  the  persecution 
of  Pope  Liberius  was  made  use  of  some  twenty  years  later  by 
the  compiler  of  the  Liber  pontificalis,  though  he  again  freely  re- 
modelled it.  He  utilises  it  in  his  chapter  on  Liberius,  though  in 
such  a  way  as  to  show  that  he  had  not  the  slightest  confidence 
in  it.  This  writer  actually  degrades  Liberius  to  the  extent  of 
making  him  a  mere  tool  of  the  heretic  Constantius,  and  a  per- 
secutor of  the  Catholics  of  Rome.  On  the  other  hand,  Felix, 
who,  as  is  well-known,  was  really  the  antipope  who,  during 
Liberius'  exile,  was  weak  enough  to  allow  himself  to  be  promoted 
to  the  papacy  by  the  Arian  Emperor  Constantius,  is  glorified  as 
a  saint  and  valiant  confessor.1 

Here  we  have  again  a  mass  of  historical  errors  betraying  the 
state  of  anarchy  into  which  history  fell  during  the  decline  of 
Roman  civilisation.  Evidently  such  mistakes  could  arise  only 
from  popular  confusion.  By  some  process  the  people  had  come 
to  identify  the  antipope  Felix  with  a  saintly  martyr  of  the  same 
name  venerated  in  Rome.  We  find  also  a  trace  of  this  mistaken 
identification  of  two  different  persons  both  in  the  date  and  in 
the  place  of  burial.  The  martyr  Felix,  the  most  prominent 
among  the  Roman  martyrs  of  this  name,  was  buried  on  the 
Via  Portuensis,  and  his  interment  was  celebrated  on  July  29th. 
Now  the  Liber  pontificalis  will  also  have  it  that  the  other  Felix, 
the  antagonist  of  Liberius,  finally  retired  to  the  Via  Portuensis, 
where  he  expired  on  an  estate  belonging  to  him,  likewise  on 
July  29th.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  according  to  the  testimony  of  a 
contemporary,  Felix  the  antipope  died  on  November  22nd.2 

The  second  so-called  Symmachian  forgery,  the  Deeds  of  Pope 
Marcellinus,  contains  things  no  whit  less  extraordinary. 

It  deals  with  the  life  of  this  Pope,  who  seems  to  have  been 
suspected  of  having  offered  sacrifice  to  idols,  and  with  the  Synod 
of  Sinuessa.  Throughout  the  Middle  Ages  the  account  of  this 
singular  trial  at  the  Synod  was  in  the  main  accepted  as  truthful, 

1  Duchesne,  Liber  pont.,  1,  207,  Liberius,  n.  51 :  ".  .  .  Liberius  .  .  .  consensit  Con- 
stantio  heretico  .  .  .  et  tenuit  basilicas  .  .  .  et  pcrsecutio  magna  fuit  in  urbe  Roma,  ita  at 
clerics  et  sacerdotes  neque  in  ecclesia  neque  in  balnea  haberent  introitiim." 

2  Duchesne,  Liber  pont.,  1,  p.  cxxiii.  Hergenrother,  Hdb?,  1,  376,  377.  Hefele, 
Conci/iengesch.2,  1,  661,  68 1.  Jungmann,  Dissertationes,  2,  81.  Dollinger,  Papst- 
/abeln^,  p.  126.  A  different  view  is  expressed  by  DE  Feis,  Storia  di  Liberio  papa,  who 
agrees  with  the  earlier  authors.  On  the  previous  attempt  made  by  Antonio  Paoli  (1790) 
to  save  the  memory  of  Felix  II.,  see  DE  ROSSI,  Inscr.  crist.,  1,  176,  177. 


No.  468] 


FORGERIES 


and  was  instanced  by  historians,  theologians,  and  lawyers.  Ac- 
cording to  this  narrative,  to  consider  the  case  of  Marcellinus,  300 
bishops  and  numerous  clergy  assembled  in  Council,  first  in  a 
cave  near  Sinuessa,  and  then  in  the  little  town  itself.  Exclaim- 
ing that  the  Supreme  See  can  be  judged  by  no  one,  after  much 
trouble,  they  induced  Marcellinus  to  confess  his  sacrifice  to  idols, 
and  then  to  pronounce  his  own  sentence  of  deposition.1 

Here,  likewise,  the  bearing  of  these  proceedings  on  Sym- 
machus,  during  whose  lifetime  the  tale  was  invented,  is  clear. 
The  author  wishes  to  demonstrate  that  Symmachus  can  be 
judged  by  no  one.  But  to  prove  the  well-known  saying  that  the 
Pope  as  supreme  judge  is  subject  to  no  human  tribunal,  there  was 
certainly  no  need  of  inventing  so  absurd  a  tale  as  that  of  the 
three  hundred  Bishops  solemnly  assembling  in  Council  in  the  very 
thick  of  the  Diocletian  persecution,  when  no  Christian  was  secure. 
To  add  to  the  improbability,  after  the  business  had  been  settled, 
the  writer  quite  aimlessly  makes  them  remain  in  Council  until 
Diocletian  sends  special  directions  from  Persia,  when  most  of 
them  are  put  to  death.  The  axiom  regarding  the  position  of  the 
Pope  as  supreme  judge  had  long  since  been  acknowledged  in  the 
Church,  and  had  already  then  assumed  the  form  given  it  by 
the  forger,  and  which  it  has  ever  since  retained.2 

46S.  Three  other  "  Symmachian  forgeries  "  still  remain  to  be 
considered. 

In  the  44  Purgation  of  Xystus  III.,"  it  is  related  how  this 
Pope,  on  being  charged  with  immorality  by  Bassus,  had  cleared 
himself  by  an  oath,  upon  which  no  further  legal  procedure  was 
considered  necessary.  Real  history  knows  nothing  of  the  kind 
concerning  Xystus,  and  it  is  difficult  to  find  in  his  life  anything 
which  could  in  any  way  have  given  rise  to  such  a  story.  All  that 
can  be  alleged  is  the  suspicion  which  may  have  been  excited  by 
his  excessive  gentleness  towards  the  Pelagians."3 

The  tales  told  about  Polychronius,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  the 
leading  figure  in  the  book,  present  an  even  more  serious  difficulty, 
for  Polychronius  had  never  existed.    According  to  the  story,  he  had, 

1  Gcsta  Marccllini papae  sive  de  synodo  Sinuessana,  P.L.,  vi.,  1 1  ff.  ;  Mansi,  i,  1250  ff. 
Cp.  Hefele,  p.  144  ;  Duchesne,  Liber  potit.,  1,  p.  cxxxiii ;  and  for  the  history  of  Mar- 
cellinus, pp.  lxxiii,  xciv,  163.    Dollinger,  Papstfabeln,  p.  57. 

2  Cp.  the  passage  from  Pope  Gelasius,  quoted  above,  vol.  ii.  p.  242. 

3  Duchesne,  Liber pont.,  1,  p.  cxxvi,  232. 


2l8 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.468 


however,  been  charged  with  simony,  and  his  fate  was  evidently 
intended  by  the  writer  to  be  read  in  connection  with  the  case  of 
Symmachus,  simony,  as  well  as  immorality,  having  been  one  of 
the  false  charges  hurled  against  this  Pope.1 

Finally  we  have  the  two  documents  dealing  with  Pope  Sil* 
vester,  later  on  often  quoted  as  genuine  by  ecclesiastical  authors 
and  canonists.  They  comprise  a  collection  of  twenty  rules,  usually 
called  the  Constitutum  Silvestri,  and  the  decrees  of  a  Synod  said 
to  have  been  held  by  Silvester  with  275  Bishops.  The  fiction  of 
Constantine's  baptism  by  Silvester,  and  his  subsequent  recovery 
from  leprosy,  is  also  interwoven  with  these  spurious  documents. 
The  latter  legend,  once  started,  took  the  fancy  of  the  Romans, 
and,  as  it  seemed  to  redound  to  the  honour  of  the  Roman  Church, 
it  could  scarcely  be  omitted  in  speaking  of  Silvester ;  it  thus  came 
to  be  used  first  by  the  less  educated,  and  then  even  in  cultured 
and  official  circles.2 

The  main  point  the  author  of  the  spurious  Constitutum  Sil- 
vestri has  in  view  is  to  adduce  decrees  which  might  serve  the  cause 
of  Symmachus,  to  press  home  the  need  of  observing  the  traditional 
forms  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts,  to  show  that  the  clergy  are  not 
to  be  summoned  before  civil  judges,  and  that  "  the  supreme 
Bishop  may  be  judged  by  no  one."  Not  one  of  the  twenty 
ordinances  of  the  Constitutum  which  Silvester  is  supposed  to  have 
sanctioned  at  a  Council  really  had  him  for  its  author. 

In  spite  of  this  the  Constitutum,  in  time,  found  its  way  into 
the  Papal  decretals.  It  is  in  fact  the  first  false  decretal  known  in 
history,  and  was  a  forerunner  of  the  later  spurious  Papal  decretals 
intended  to  settle  disputed  points  of  church  discipline,  which  are 
numerous  enough  to  form  a  kind  of  literature  apart. 

The  fictitious  Council  of  275  Bishops  presided  over  by  Pope 
Silvester,  and  held  in  Constantine's  presence  principally  for  the 
ratification  of  the  Council  of  Nicaea,  is  unluckily  made  to  take 
place  at  a  time  (in  325)  when  Constantine  was  not  staying  in 
Rome,  and  in  a  place  (Trajan's  Thermae)  which  had  never  served 
for  holding  Councils,  and  which  could  not  well  have  been  used 
for  the  purpose,  seeing  that  the  baths  were  still  resorted  to.  It 
also  enacted  impossible  decrees  ;  for  instance,  its  Paschal  decree, 

1  Duchesne,  Liber pont.,  1,  p.  cxxxiii.  ff. 

2  Constitutum  Silvestri,  P.L.,  viii.,  829  ff.  For  the  Council  of  the  275  Bishops  said 
to  have  been  assembled  around  Silvester,  see  ibid.,  822  ff. 


No.  469] 


FORGERIES 


219 


which  is  in  flagrant  contradiction  with  that  of  Nicaea,  and  another 
which  requires  forty-six  years'  service  in  the  Church  before  a 
man  may  be  admitted  to  the  priesthood.  This  Synod  under  Pope 
Silvester  was  alleged  to  have  ratified  solemnly  the  Nicene  Council, 
though  our  real  historical  sources  are  quite  silent  about  any  such 
solemn  confirmation.  Athanasius  and  Hilary  were  both  un- 
acquainted with  it,  though  they  both  deal  at  length  with  the 
Synods  of  the  period.  It  is  needless  to  labour  the  point  further. 
The  forger  of  these  curious  Synodal  acts  was  merely  endeavouring 
by  his  inventions  to  place  the  case  of  Pope  Symmachus  in  the 
light  he  wished. 

469.  The  attitude  of  the  sixth  century  towards  these  so-called 
"  Symmachian  forgeries"  is  made  clear  in  the  earliest  Western 
collections  of  canons,  compiled  not  long  after. 

The  oldest  collection,  that  of  Dionysius  Exiguus,  says  never 
a  word  concerning  them,  so  that  we  may  infer  that  in  Rome, 
where  he  wrote,  not  the  slightest  authority  was  attached  to  them. 
They  had  not  found  their  way  even  into  that  edition  of  the 
Dionysian  Canons  sent  by  Pope  Hadrian  to  Charles  the  Great 
and  the  Franks.1 

The  author  of  the  later  pseudo-Isidorean  collection  likewise 
refrained  from  incorporating  these  apparently  so  important 
canonical  Acts. 

In  the  sixth  century  they  do,  however,  appear  in  a  less 
celebrated  Italian  collection  of  canonical  decrees,  which  recent 
research  has  discovered  in  a  sixth-century  MS.  of  St.  Blasius, 
and  a  Vatican  copy  made  in  the  ninth  century.  This  Italian 
collection  has  the  dubious  merit  of  having  first  set  the  Sym- 
machian forgeries  in  circulation.2 

In  the  sixth  century  likewise,  the  author  of  the  Liber  ponti- 
ficalis  also  helped  on  their  cause.  Not  indeed  that  he  makes  use 
of  all  the  documents,  and,  even  where  he  does  lay  them  under 
contribution,  he  treats  them  with  such  freedom  that  he  can  really 
have  given  them  scant  credit.  He  welcomes,  however,  the  disci- 
plinary regulations  in  the  forged  documents  of  Pope  Silvester, 
and  ascribes  them  airily  to  divers  Popes,  without  examining 
whether  historically  they  fit  the  circumstances  of  these  Popes. 

1  Duchesne,  ibid.,  p.  cxxxiv,  after  Maassen,  Gcsch.  dcr  Quellen,  vol.  i. 

2  Duchesne,  I.e. 


220 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  470 


To  Silvester  himself  he  leaves  very  little,  nor  does  he  hesitate 
to  alter  the  decrees  when  it  pleases  him,  so  as  to  bring  them  into 
conformity  with  the  customs  prevailing  in  his  own  time. 

Legends  of  the  Martyrs — Martyrologies 

470.  The  legendary  literature  which  is  mixed  up  with  the  few 
Acts  of  the  Martyrs  worthy  of  the  name,  took  its  rise  from  the 
pious  craving  to  know  about  each  of  the  earlier  martyrs,  particu- 
larly about  the  more  venerated  among  them — more  than  was 
vouchsafed  by  the  scant  information  contained  in  genuine  sources. 
The  same  thing  happened  here  as  with  the  biblical  Apocrypha. 
The  Acts  of  the  Martyrs,  extracted  from  judicial  records,  or 
the  notices  compiled  by  Christian  contemporaries,  had  mostly 
been  lost,  as  during  the  persecutions  these  documents,  being  in 
the  Church's  possession,  were  especially  liable  to  destruction. 
Moreover,  during  the  time  of  stress,  many  martyrs  were  known 
by  name  merely.  When,  however,  the  Church  had  carried  the 
day,  with  the  increase  in  public  veneration  for  the  bold  confessors 
of  the  Faith,  and  the  constant  inquiries  by  foreign  pilgrims  into 
the  circumstances  of  the  martyrs'  life  and  death,  each  was 
gradually  provided  with  a  "  Passion." 

Many  of  these  "  Passions "  clearly  consist  of  the  meagre 
traditional  material,  well  padded  with  pious  reflections.  In 
others,  we  can  see  that  common  characteristics,  implying  nothing 
out  of  the  ordinary,  are  brought  in  to  enliven  the  narrative,  or 
that  some  prominent  occurrence  belonging  to  one  martyr  has 
been  transferred  to  another. 

The  piety  and  fancy  of  the  Greeks  were  ever  ready  with  such 
fictions.  In  Byzantine  Italy  and  in  Rome,  it  was  largely  to 
Greek  authors  that  the  miraculous,  legendary  Passions  owed  their 
origin  and  vogue.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  lives,  even  of  Roman 
saints,  were  not  seldom  translated  into  Latin  from  such  legends, 
originally  composed  in  the  East,  or  at  least  in  an  Eastern  tongue, 
and  then  introduced  in  all  good  faith  to  Rome  and  the  West. 

Most  of  these  are  noted  for  their  awkward  and  grandiloquent 
language.  The  genuine  Acts  contrast  favourably  with  them  as 
regards  style,  being  usually  brief,  simple,  unostentatious,  and 
devoid  of  the  speeches  which  in  the  faked  Passions  are  placed 
on  the  martyrs'  lips,  and  which  are  not  seldom  vain,  self-conscious 


no. 47°]        LEGENDS  OF  THE  MARTYRS  221 

orations,  intended  to  wound  and  provoke  the  judge.  In  fine, 
the  genuine  Acts  bear  the  stamp  of  the  calm  and  moderation 
of  classic  times.  Their  heroes  are  humble  men,  and  not  without 
anxiety  as  to  their  own  power  of  resistance.  The  judicial  pro- 
cedure is  correctly  described,  and  in  such  detail  as  to  savour  of 
pedantry.  On  the  other  hand,  the  later,  spurious  Acts  are 
offspring  of  the  bad  taste  and  ignorance  of  the  time  which  gave 
them  birth.  They  invent  a  judicial  procedure  unknown  to  history, 
create  non-existent  praetors  and  praesides  of  provinces,  sometimes 
bring  on  the  scene  some  impossible  Emperor  who  personally  acts 
as  judge  and  executioner,  and,  generally,  they  are  brimful  of 
anachronisms. 

They  have  also  suffered  from  the  taste  for  false  rhetoric.  So 
prevalent  was  it  that  even  Ennodius  pads  his  otherwise  excellent 
biographies — for  instance,  that  of  St.  Epiphanius — with  long,  imagi- 
nary speeches,  which  he  puts  into  his  hero's  mouth,  though  without 
displaying  the  same  ability  as  Livy. 

Through  the  "  Gelasian  Decree,"  we  know  for  certain  that  at 
the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century  the  Roman  Church  made  no 
use  of  the  Martyrs'  Acts  (gesta  martyrtmi)  for  public  readings,  for 
one  reason,  because  the  names  of  their  authors  were  unknown,  and 
for  another,  because  they  contained  much  unbecoming  and  foolish 
matter,  and  even  things  contrary  to  the  faith.  The  Gelasian 
decree  says  very  wisely  :  "With  the  Roman  Church  we  revere 
in  all  devotion  all  the  martyrs  and  their  struggles,  which  are 
better  known  to  God  than  to  man.  .  .  .  Who  can  doubt  that 
their  sufferings  and  confession  were  a  great  triumph,  and  that 
they  suffered  even  more  than  is  recorded  in  their  Acts  ? " 
Nevertheless,  it  goes  on  to  state,  "  according  to  ancient  custom 
and  through  caution,  the  latter  are  not  read  in  the  holy  Roman 
Church  because  the  names  of  those  who  wrote  them  are  shrouded 
in  complete  obscurity,  and  because  the  documents  would  be  con- 
sidered by  unbelievers  and  ignorant  persons  superfluous  or  not 
particularly  true  to  the  facts  of  the  case."  1 

Gregory  the  Great  also  writes  in  such  wise  of  the  so-called 
Acts  of  the  Martyrs,  that  it  is  clear  how  little  weight  they  carried 
in  the  Roman  Church,  even  in  his  time  :  "  Besides  what  is  con- 
tained in  the  books  of  Eusebius  upon  the  history  of  the  martyrs,  I 


1  The  "  Gelasian  Decree"  in  Thiel,  Epist.  rom.  ftont.,  p.  454  ff. 


222  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  471 


know  positively  that  there  is  nothing  to  be  found  in  the  archives 
of  this  Church  or  in  the  libraries  of  the  city  of  Rome,  except  a 
few  accounts  collected  in  a  single  volume."  1 

Such  disdain  for  the  new  Acts  of  the  Martyrs  could  not, 
however,  long  abide.  The  joy  of  the  faithful  over  such  edifying 
narratives  was  too  great,  while  the  consciousness  of  their  unre- 
liability naturally  tended  to  disappear  in  the  course  of  years. 
Hence,  in  progress  of  time,  they  even  found  their  way  into  the 
office  of  the  Church,  albeit  in  an  amended  form." 

471.  We  are  better  off  with  respect  to  the  lists  of  the 
martyrs,  with  their  names  and  the  places  where  they  suffered. 

The  most  important  list  of  this  kind,  the  most  valued 
among  the  so-called  Martyrologies,  has  unjustifiably  come  down 
to  us  under  the  name  of  a  doctor  of  the  Church,  St.  Jerome, 
and  in  a  form  which,  apart  from  its  numerous  later  deteriora- 
tions, goes  back  to  the  sixth  or  even  the  fifth  century.  The 
compiler  of  this  Martyrology  placed  two  apocryphal  letters  at 
the  head  of  the  work  to  serve  as  introduction  ;  one  from  Chro- 
matius  and  Heliodorus  to  Jerome  ;  the  other  from  Jerome  to 
them.  The  real  author  of  the  letters  and  the  whole  work  is 
unknown. 

The  work  had  no  official  standing,  nor  was  it  published 
by  the  Church  or  by  the  Holy  See,  but  was  merely  a  private 
■compilation. 

As  to  its  origin,  the  country  of  its  birth  is,  without  a  doubt, 
Italy,  and  it  must  first  have  seen  the  light  in  the  earlier  half 
of  the  fifth  century,  perhaps  under  the  pontificate  of  Xystus 
III.  The  present  edition  of  the  book  must,  however,  be 
ascribed  to  the  sixth  century  or  the  beginning  of  the  seventh, 
since  all  the  copies  known — which,  when  compared  to  the 
original,  are  all  considerably  altered  and  corrupted — all  revert 
to  a  Martyrology  by  Bishop  Aunacharius  of  Antissiodorum 
(Auxerre),  who  was  Bishop  from  573  to  603.  Duchesne's 
researches,  combined  with  those  of  de  Rossi,  have  brought 
•this  fact  to  light.3 

1  Greg.  M.,  Registrant,  8,  n.  28  (8,  n.  29). 

2  A.  Dufourcq  {Eiudes  sur  les  gesta  martyrum  remains,  Paris,  1900)  and  Pio  Franchi 
de'  Cavalieri  have  thrown  much  light  on  the  Roman  martyr-legends.  On  the  work  of 
the  latter  author,  see  Rom.  Quartalschr.,  1904,  p.  265  ff. 

3  The  Mccrtyrologium  Hieronymianum  was  lately  re-edited  by  de  Rossi  and  Duchesne 
in  the  second  November  volume  of  the  Bollandists.    Cp.  the  excellent  introduction  by 


no.  47i]  THE  MARTYROLOGIES 


223 


The  shape  and  plan  of  the  Martyrology  is  described  to  us 
in  few  words  by  Gregory  the  Great,  who  had  it  before  him. 
It  contained  the  names  of  almost  all  the  martyrs,  distributed 
according  to  the  days,  but  with  only  the  name,  place,  and  date  of 
martyrdom,  and  nothing  about  the  mode  of  death.  In  his  time, 
so  he  tells  us,  the  book,  which  was  already  widely  known, 
had  the  reputation  of  being  a  reliable  historical  work  which 
could  be  made  use  of  in  the  liturgy.  There  is  also  a  passage 
in  Cassiodorus  which  seems  to  refer  to  this  work.1 

The  original  of  this  great  Martyrology,  embracing  many 
portions  of  Christendom,  was  compiled  from  good  authorities. 
For  the  martyrs  of  the  East,  the  foundation  was  an  ancient 
Eastern  ecclesiastical  calendar,  now  lost.  Its  information  con- 
cerning Africa  and  a  part  of  Italy  was  likewise  drawn  from 
reliable  calendars  of  these  Churches. 

Of  the  Roman  martyrs,  pseudo-Jerome  had  access  to  an 
ancient,  comprehensive,  and  trustworthy  list,  which  we  have, 
unfortunately,  also  lost.  This  can  be  seen  by  the  uniform 
manner  in  which  pseudo-Jerome  mentions  the  Roman  martyrs. 
As  a  rule,  after  giving  the  place,  usually  with  the  word  Romae, 
he  adds  some  further  topographical  information,  whether  the 
spot  be  in  the  City  itself,  or  in  the  neighbourhood.  In  the 
latter  event  he  inserts  the  name  of  the  consular  road  and  the 
number  of  miles  from  the  City,  thus  indicating  more  clearly 
the  site  to  which  was  attached  the  martyr's  memory.  Such 
statements  regarding  the  Roman  martyrs  have  frequently  had 
their  accuracy  established  by  excavation  or  by  comparison  with 
the  information  in  other  trustworthy  sources. 

The  original  Roman  list  of  martyrs,  that  excellent  authority, 
must  have  been  compiled  as  early  as  about  the  year  312,  when 

Duchesne  on  the  origin  of  this  Martyrology,  and  his  article  in  the  Melanges  d'archdol.  et 
dhist.,  5  (1885),  120-160,  as  well  as  de  Rossi,  ibid.,  p.  115-119,  and  Roma  sott.,  2,  espe- 
cially p.  x.  ff.  What  I  have  said  in  my  Ana/,  row.,  1,  231  ff.,  Le  origini  del  niartirologio 
romano,  is  based  upon  their  work.  Against  the  objections  of  Krusch,  see  Duchesne, 
Anal,  bollandiana,  17  (1898),  421  ff.,  and  my  Anal,  rom.,  1,  668,  669.  Cp.  H.  ACHELIS, 
Die  Martyrologie7i  (Ab/i.  G'bttingen,  vol.  hi.,  3,  1900). 

1  Greg.  M.,  Registr.,  8,  28  (8,  n.  29) :  "  Nos  aiclem pcne  omnium  martyrum,  dislinciis 
per  singulos  dies  passionibus,  collecta  in  uno  codice  nomina  habemus,  atque  quolidianis 
diebus  in  corum  veneratione  missarum  solemnia  agimus.  Non  tamen  in  eodem  volumine, 
quis  qualiter  sit passus,  indicatur,  sed  tantummodo  nomen,  locus  ct  dies  passionis  ponitur; 
unde  fit,  ut  multi  ex  divcrsis  tern's  atque  provinciis  per  dies,  ut praedixi,  singulos  cognos- 
cantur  martyrio  coronati.  Sed  haec  habere  vos  beatissimos  credimus."  This  passage  is 
from  the  epistle  of  Gregory  to  Eulogius,  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  quoted  on  p.  221  f. 
Cassiodorus,  De  instit.  div.  litt.,  c  32  ;  P.L.,  LXX.,  1 147.    See  Anal,  rom.,  1,  256. 


224 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  471 


the  persecutions  reached  their  end,  for  a  calendar  of  the  feasts, 
dating  from  354,  or  possibly  from  336,  was  based  on  this  list, 
from  which  it  has  borrowed  a  table  for  calculating  the  date  of 
Easter,  which  goes  back  to  312.1 

This  list  of  martyrs  may  well  be  the  outcome  of  the 
calendars  [fasti)  kept  in  the  Roman  Church  during  the  first 
three  centuries.  It  is  unquestionable  that  such  fasti,  with  lists 
of  the  feasts  and  saints,  were  kept  by  the  early  Roman 
Church.  Tertullian  clearly  alludes  to  such  tables  of  the 
Churches.  They  had  been  so  usual  in  secular  circles,  in 
corporations,  tribunals,  at  Court,  and  among  the  pagan  priests, 
that  the  Christian  clergy  found  the  necessary  forms  ready  to 
hand,  nor  was  any  change  needed  to  adapt  them  to  Christian 
purposes.  Indeed,  the  brief,  solemn  formulae  of  the  earliest 
martyrological  data  cannot  fail  to  remind  one  of  the  forms  used 
in  the  calendars  of  Pagan  times.2 

Pseudo-Jerome,  in  his  Martyrology,  included  only  the  names 
of  the  martyrs,  with  the  place  and  time  corresponding,  especially 
the  day,  the  latter  being  important  for  the  services.  Italian 
saints  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  who  were  not  martyrs, 
also  find  a  place  in  the  list.  As  certain  Bishops  who  died  in 
the  second  half  of  the  fifth  century,  and  who  forthwith  received 
public  worship,  have  not  been  included,  we  have  good  reason 
for  believing  the  work  to  have  been  composed  in  the  first  half 
of  the  century.  Among  the  Popes  mentioned  as  saints,  Boni- 
face I.  (1422)  is  the  last.  On  the  other  hand,  the  name  of 
Leo  the  Great  is  probably  a  later  addition,  made  after  the 
completion  of  the  book,  and  due  to  the  fame  of  his  saintly 
memory. 

Such  additions  were  frequently  made  later  ;  for  instance,  to 
mention  one  already  alluded  to  in  connection  with  the  con- 
secration by  John  III.  of  the  church  of  the  Apostles  at  Rome, 
we  find,  in  the  sixth  century,  the  name  of  James  associated 
with  that  of  Philip  for  the  first  time.3 

But  the  text  was  not  merely  added  to  ;  it  was  altered  and 
corrupted.  For  this,  to  some  extent,  the  carelessness  of 
copyists  was  responsible  ;  the  mass  of  dates  and  names,  often 
of  quite  foreign  sound,  must  indeed  have  greatly  tried  their 


1  See  Anal,  row.,  i,  248. 
3  Cp.  above,  p.  95,  note  3. 


2  Ibid.,  1,  249. 


No.  472] 


THE  MARTYROLOGIES 


225 


attention.  When,  in  the  Frankish  realm,  Bishop  Aunacharius 
received  a  copy  of  the  redaction  which  has  come  down  to  us, 
it  was  evidently  already  corrupt. 

He  himself  was  responsible  for  new  alterations,  for  he,  or 
one  of  his  clergy,  remodelled  it  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
the  Church  of  Antissiodorum.  Hence  the  addition  of  Gallic 
saints,  especially  those  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Auxerre,  the 
rearrangement  of  the  feasts  according  to  Gallican  usage,  &c. 
Nor  do  we  possess  even  his  form  of  the  Martyrology.  We 
are  still  worse  off,  for  we  know  the  Martyrology  of  Aunacharius 
only  through  defective  copies,  revisions,  and  excerpts. 

During  the  last  centuries  many  errors  have  indeed  been 
cleared  up  by  Catholic  scholars,  and  an  improved  version  of 
the  Martyrology  of  St.  Jerome,  or,  more  correctly,  of  that  of 
Usuard,  which  is  based  on  Jerome's,  has  been  utilised,  together 
with  other  sources,  as  foundations  for  the  Roman  Martyrology 
now  in  use.1 

The  Martyrologies,  especially  that  of  St.  Jerome,  still  provide 
an  ample  field  for  criticism.  Though  it  may  not  now  be  possible 
to  purge  the  oldest  Martyrology  of  all  its  defects  and  alterations, 
numerous  misunderstandings  and  faults  which  have  crept  into  the 
traditional  text  might  be  rectified.  The  reliable  character  of  the 
original  document,  as  described  above,  may  well  inspire  investi- 
gators with  courage  and  confidence.  Giovanni  Battista  de  Rossi 
and  Louis  Duchesne,  by  classifying  and  editing  the  manu- 
scripts of  the  Hieronymianum,  have  paved  the  way  for  a  future 
edition. 

472.  One  source  of  injury  to  the  Martyrologies  was  the  advent 
of  the  martyr-legends  and  so-called  Acts  already  spoken  of. 

For  instance,  their  influence  is  obvious  in  the  so-called 
Martyrologinm  romanum parvum.  This  compilation,  which  shows 
signs  of  being  a  Roman  work  and  belongs  to  the  end  of  the 
seventh  or  beginning  of  the  eighth  century,  is  based  upon  the 
redaction  of  pseudo-Jerome  then  in  vogue,  i.e.  on  one  as  yet 
free  from  later  corruptions.  In  spite  of  this  the  author  frequently 
prefers  to  trust  to  the  legends  already  in  circulation  rather  than  to 
the  authoritative  sources  which  lay  before  him.    In  doubtful  cases 


1  Anal,  rom.,  1,  234  ff.  :  Usuardo  ed  il  suo  martirologio. 

vol.  in.  r 


226 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  473 


he  is  more  given  to  following  the  fuller  accounts  of  the  charming 
legends  and  spurious  Acts  than  the  dry  lists  handed  down  by 
tradition.  For  instance,  to  him  we  owe  it  that  the  saintly  Popes 
Pontian  and  Felix  I.  are,  even  in  the  present  Martyrology,  com- 
memorated on  the  wrong  day,  a  mistake  for  which  the  Liber 
pontificalis  was  originally  responsible.  He,  too,  on  his  own 
authority,  fixed  days  commemorative  of  a  number  of  Old  Testa- 
ment saints  and  of  other  saints  mentioned  in  the  New.1 

The  "  Liber  Pontificalis  " — Lists  of  Popes 

473.  The  Liber  pontificalis \  so  often  referred  to  in  the  course 
of  this  work,  deserves  to  be  briefly  dealt  with  here,  seeing  that  it 
dates  from  the  time  of  that  decline  of  Latin  literature  with  which 
we  are  now  concerned,  and  of  which  plentiful  traces  are  found  in 
its  pages. 

Though  the  Liber  pontificalis  is  indispensable  to  any  one  who 
desires  to  make  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  early  Christian 
Rome  and  its  Popes,  the  reader  will  be  sadly  disappointed  if  he 
expects  to  find  in  it  a  regular  historical  work.  Its  information 
concerning  the  minor  details  of  the  history  of  the  Roman  Church 
is  both  full  and  instructive,  and  the  author  is  even  tedious  in  his 
record  of  trivial  matters  which  he  has  at  heart.  In  his  account  of 
the  years  approaching  his  own  time  his  main  historical  statements 
are  accurate,  and  fill  in  many  a  gap  left  open  by  other  writers. 
The  work  will  therefore  always  retain  its  own  peculiar  import- 
ance. In  consequence  of  the  decadent  age  from  which  it  proceeds, 
and  the  writer's  lack  of  the  requisite  culture,  it  fails,  however,  to 
reach  the  standard  of  a  true  history  of  the  Roman  Bishops. 

Just  as  the  best  Roman  Martyrology  placed  itself  under  the 
patronage  of  St.  Jerome,  so  also  the  Liber  pontificalis  was  ascribed 
to  Damasus,  who  was  alleged  to  have  been  responsible  at  least  for 
that  portion  of  the  history  prior  to  his  own  pontificate,  though,  in 
point  of  fact,  the  work  would  have  done  little  honour  to  such  a 
Pope  as  Damasus. 

What  an  inviting  subject  it  should  have  been  to  throw  light 

1  In  Roma  sott.,  II.,  p.  xxx.,  de  Rossi  rightly  says  of  the  Martyrologium  romanum 
parvum  :  "  L'  autore  non  si  attenne  alia  tradizione  dei  calendarii,  ma  la  guasto,"  &c.  In 
the  Bull.  di.  arch,  crist.,  187 1,  p.  91,  he  mentions,  e.g.  the  error  caused  by  the  author 
transferring  an  arcus  Faustini  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Terni  to  the  Aventine  in 
Rome.    Cp.  Anal,  rom.,  1,  243. 


no.  473]  THE  LIBER  PONTIFICALIS  227 

upon  the  grand  institution  of  the  Papacy,  and  what  a  wealth  of 
information  and  reliable  material  then  lay  ready  for  such  an 
enterprise,  for  instance,  in  the  archives  of  the  Church,  in  the 
records  of  the  Empire,  in  the  inscriptions,  in  contemporary  art, 
as  well  as  in  the  very  happenings  of  the  day.  How  different 
would  be  the  situation  of  modern  historians  had  those  days  of 
yore — now  shrouded  in  obscurity,  or  at  best  dimly  lighted  here 
and  there  by  records,  ecclesiastical  and  secular,  or  the  chance 
utterances  of  contemporaries — been  illumined  by  a  historical  work 
embracing  every  aspect  of  life. 

The  nameless  author  of  the  Liber  pontificalis  aimed  merely  at 
supplying  short  notices  of  each  Pope  in  succession.  The  earlier 
Popes  he  dismisses  with  a  few  lines  for  each,  stating  where  they 
came  from,  the  length  of  their  pontificate,  and  sometimes  that 
they  erected  a  church  or  published  a  decree  ;  an  invariable 
formula  then  gives  the  number  of  ordinations  held,  and  occa- 
sionally the  place  of  interment.  In  such  wise  does  the  work 
proceed  with  monotonous  regularity  until  the  writer  reaches  his 
own  time.  The  monotony  would  indeed  be  pardonable  were  the 
list  accurate  and  true,  but  it  is  clear  that  the  author  belonged 
to  the  lower  clergy  and  was  devoid  of  the  sense  of  history.  He 
made  no  attempt  to  find  out  the  truth,  though,  as  he  wrote  in 
Rome  and  belonged  to  the  clergy,  the  means  were  at  hand. 
Of  the  Papal  archives  in  the  most  important  cases,  even  for  the 
events  which  occurred  shortly  before  his  time,  he  makes  not 
the  slightest  use. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  sometimes  displays  a  curious  caprice. 
He  repeatedly  allows  to  early  Popes  a  pontificate  computed  in 
years,  months,  and  days,  utterly  at  variance  with  the  truth  as 
expressed  elsewhere  ;  in  such  cases  he  has  no  doubt  had  recourse 
to  invention  in  order  to  supply  what  was  lacking  in  the  sources  at 
his  command.  He  ascribes  to  these  Popes  things  which  they  did 
not  and  could  not  have  done.  For  instance,  he  makes  them  hold 
ordinations  in  December,  even  in  cases  where  their  pontificate 
was  so  short  as  not  to  include  that  month.  At  the  very  com- 
mencement of  the  work  the  two  letters  from  Jerome  to  Damasus 
and  from  Damasus  to  Jerome  are  mere  fictions  of  the  writer. 

All  these  details  have  gradually  been  brought  to  light  by 
criticism.  The  halo  which  surrounded  the  book  in  the  Middle 
Ages  has  been  rudely  dispelled,  though  to  the  advantage  of 


228  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.473 

historical  truth.  For  the  first  four  hundred  years,  and  even  later, 
the  only  authority  of  the  work  is  that  which  belongs  to  its  own 
sources,  and  these  are  sometimes  not  to  be  found.  So  far  as  this 
period  is  concerned,  the  author's  own  statements  cannot  carry  the 
slightest  weight.  On  the  later  period  he  is  far  more  trustworthy, 
though  even  there  what  he  says  of  matters  not  touching  the 
Roman  Church  requires  to  be  carefully  tested.1 

Down  to  our  own  day  the  Liber  pontijicalis  was  ascribed  to 
the  learned  Anastasius  Bibliothecarius,  who  is  even  now  some- 
times spoken  of  as  its  author. 

In  point  of  fact,  the  only  circumstance  which  can  connect 
the  book  with  Anastasius,  who  lived  in  the  ninth  century,  is 
that  it  was  continued  down  to  his  period  by  the  insertion  of  the 
records  of  those  Popes  whose  pontificates  were  later  than  the 
book's  inception.  The  continuation  of  the  work  was,  however, 
begun  in  the  sixth  century  itself,  and  such  additions  as  were 
gradually  made  are  due  to  various  writers,  and,  being  con- 
temporary, are  sometimes  of  great  importance. 

The  original  author  probably  wrote  his  work  under  Boniface 
II.  (t532).  When  recounting  the  events  which  occurred  during 
his  own  life,  which  probably  began  with  the  pontificate  of  Leo 
the  Great,  his  information  gradually  becomes  fuller,  and  his 
historical  blunders  less  frequent.  This,  too,  enables  us  to  explain 
the  more  personal  character  of  the  narrative  and  its  greater 
lucidity  and  liveliness  where  it  deals  with  the  pontificates  at  the 
turn  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  century.2 

The  situation  of  the  Roman  Church  in  his  time  was,  naturally, 
known  to  the  author  from  personal  observation.  Regarding  such 
matters  as  the  erection  of  churches,  the  embellishment  of  holy 
places,  and  the  topography  of  the  City,  he  is,  on  the  whole,  quite 
reliable,  though  the  great  lines  of  a  pontificate  are  quite  beyond 
the  range  of  his  purview.  On  minor  details,  in  spite  of  his 
tediousness,  he  ranks  as  a  classic.     He  had  before  him  the 

1  For  instance,  we  must  look  with  suspicion  on  his  statements  regarding  the  nationa- 
lity of  the  earlier  Popes.  Harnack,  Uber  die  Herkunft  der  ersteti,  38  (37)  Pdpste,  SB. 
Berlin,  1904,2,  p.  1004  ff.  Cp.  GRISAR,  Der  Liber  ftontificalis,  Zeitschr.  fiir  kath.  T/ieoL, 
11,  1887,  pp.  417-446,  or,  more  briefly,  in  Anal,  rom.,  1,  pp.  1-25,  where  we  deal  with 
Duchesne's  splendid,  epoch-making  edition  of  the  Liber  poitt. 

2  Duchesne's  view  is  that  the  work  was  first  drafted  under  Hormisdas,  and  then 
added  to  by  the  same  writer  under  Felix  IV.  My  opinion,  as  given  in  my  article  pre- 
viously cited  (p.  426,  in  the  Italian,  p.  7),  has  been  accepted  by  Bardenhewer  (Pair.,  p. 
6u)  and  Funk  (A'Z.2,  7,  1888). 


no.  474]  THE  LIBER  PONTIFICALIS  229 


inventories  of  the  pious  trusts,  of  the  sacred  furniture,  &c,  and 
occasionally  vouchsafes  to  transcribe  them  literally — a  circum- 
stance which  leads  us  to  surmise  that  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Lateran  clergy,  possibly  a  functionary  of  the  Papal  Vestry  or 

Vestiarium. 

474.  The  first  addition  made  to  the  work  embraces  the  ponti- 
ficates of  Boniface  II.,  John  II.,  Agapetus,  and  the  beginning  of 
that  of  Silverius.  The  author  was  clearly  a  witness  of  the  frightful 
siege  of  Rome  (537-538)  and  an  opponent  of  Boniface  II.  and 
Silverius,  though,  to  all  seeming,  not  actually  a  schismatic. 

The  biography  of  Pope  Silverius,  in  which  he  breaks  off,  is 
resumed  in  a  tone  of  fulsome  admiration  for  this  Pope.  We  can 
here  well  perceive  how  the  whole  chronicle  is  a  mere  patchwork, 
a  work  neither  of  art  nor  of  history. 

After  Silverius,  for  a  long  time  nothing  seems  to  have  been 
added  to  the  book.  Not  until  the  third  decade  of  the  following 
century,  under  Pope  Honorius,  did  any  one  again  venture  to  take 
the  responsibility  of  continuing  it.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the 
whole  section  from  Silverius  to  Honorius  has  passages  of  striking 
similarity — for  instance,  in  the  manner  of  dating  the  burials  and 
reckoning  the  ordinations.  On  the  other  hand,  the  years  immedi- 
ately following  Silverius  can  scarcely  have  been  described  by  a 
contemporary  or  sixth-century  author,  for  they  are  full  of  mistakes 
and  inaccuracies.  The  sieges  of  Rome  in  546  and  in  549,  for 
instance,  are  made  into  a  single  one,  while,  under  Pelagius  I.,  the 
author  is  quite  unacquainted  with  the  Three  Chapters,  though 
they  were  the  main  cause  of  that  Pope's  difficulties.  Hence  we 
may  well  assign  to  the  time  of  Honorius  the  brief  notices  of  the 
Popes  after  Silverius.1 

Various  continuations  follow,  all,  like  the  former  ones,  referring 
at  considerable  length  to  the  erections  and  votive  offerings  of  the 
Popes.  Many  sections,  being  contemporary  with  the  Pope  de- 
scribed, have  the  value  of  historical  sources ;  for,  as  we  approach 
a  later  date,  the  writers  seem  to  enlarge  their  view  more  and 
more. 

The  work  proceeds  in  this  wise  down  to  the  ninth  century, 
when  the  notices  become  fairly  complete  and  circumstantial,  but 


1  Cp.  my  article,  p.  429  ff.  ;  in  the  Italian,  p.  1 1  ff. 


23° 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  475 


are  also  overburdened  with  trivialities,  particularly  with  endless 
enumerations  of  the  Popes'  gifts  to  the  churches  of  Rome. 

The  most  important  MS.  of  this  work  was  discovered  in  the 
Cathedral  Library  of  Lucca.  Most  of  it  is  written  in  a  mixture 
of  minuscule  and  uncial  characters,  and  may  belong  to  the  eighth 
century.  At  least  the  contents  reach  as  far  as  Pope  Constantine 
at  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century. 

Two  distinguished  scholars  of  our  own  day,  relying  on  this 
and  many  other  manuscripts,  have  brought  to  bear  on  this  noted 
chronicle  that  industry  and  critical  acumen  which  hitherto  were 
lacking.  The  editions  of  Louis  Duchesne  and  of  Theodor 
Mommsen  are  critical  masterpieces,  the  former  containing, 
moreover,  a  large  number  of  historical  notes.1 

475.  Duchesne  has  made  it  clear  that  both  the  ancient  so- 
called  Felician  List  of  Popes,  which  goes  down  to  Felix  IV.  (III.) 
and  the  Cononian  list,  going  down  to  Pope  Conon,  are  extracts 
from  the  Liber  pontijicalis.  Yet,  as  he  points  out,  the  Liber 
pontijicalis  then  made  use  of  did  not  exactly  tally  with  the  earlier 
portion  as  it  has  come  down  to  us,  but  must  have  been  a  pre- 
liminary redaction,  now  lost.  The  French  critic  has  even  tried, 
with  conspicuous  success,  to  restore  in  some  measure  the  original 
draft  from  the  two  lists  just  named.2 

The  Liberian  list,  which  is  much  older  than  the  two  others, 
has  also  been  proved  by  Duchesne  to  have  been  the  main  source 
of  the  Liber  pontijicalis  itself.  He  has  also  corrected  the  text 
of  this  list  with  the  help  of  his  excellent  edition  of  the  Liber 
pontificalis  and  of  his  studies  on  the  Felician  and  Cononian  lists.3 

These  three  documents  on  Papal  history  are  no  mere  lists  of 
names  and  dates.  They  also  supply,  though  with  great  brevity, 
various  historical  notices  regarding  the  Popes. 

There  exist,  however,  lists  of  Popes  giving  simply  the  names 
and  the  length  of  each  pontificate.     There  is,  for  instance,  the 

1  Duchesne,  Le  Liber  pontificalis.  Texte,  introduction  et  commentaire,  Paris,  1886— 
1892.  2  vols.  40  {Bibliotheque  des  ("coles  francaises  d Athines  et  de  Rome,  2e  serie,  III.). 
Mommsen,  Mon.  Germ,  hist.,  Gestorum  pont.  rom.,  t.  1.  The  latter  comes  down  only 
to  Pope  Constantine,  whereas  Duchesne's  comprises  the  various  continuations  till  late 
in  the  Middle  Ages. 

2  In  Duchesne's  edition,  pp.  48-113  are  devoted  to  this  task  of  restoration.  The  first 
column  gives  the  "  Abre'ge fe/icicn,"  the  second  the  "  Abre'ge  cononien"  ;  the  third  is 
entitled:  "  Liber  pontificalis,  premiere  e'd.,  restitutio?!." 

3  See  Duchesne's  edition,  pp.  2-9.  On  the  three  lists,  cp.  my  article,  p.  431  ff.  ;  in 
Italian,  p.  14  ff. 


no. 475]  THE  LIBER  PONTIFICALIS  231 

Paris  specimen,  which  can  hardly  fail  to  excite  the  visitor's  interest, 
and  which,  on  account  of  its  antiquity,  heads  all  the  remaining 
lists  of  this  kind  (111.  214).  This  treasure  of  the  Bibliotheque 
Nationale  is  a  list  of  the  Popes  written  in  the  sixth  century  in  a 
codex  of  canons  originally  belonging  to  the  Abbey  of  Corbey. 
The  list  originally  extended  only  to  Pope  Hormisdas  inclusively, 
and  was  continued  by  another  hand  till  the  reign  of  Pope  Vigilius. 
Hence  it  must  have  been  be^un  under  Hormisdas  himself.1 

Of  the  two  other  lists  of  Popes  next  in  point  of  age,  that  con- 
tained in  a  manuscript  at  Chieti  also  comes  down  to  Hormisdas. 
It  may  be  that  some  connection  exists  between  this  fact  and  a 
statement  contained  in  Gregory  the  Great's  register  of  letters. 
The  Pope  was  asked  whether  the  "  Popes'  Ordinations "  were 
continued  after  Pope  Hormisdas,  and  he  replied  that  they  had 
been,  even  to  the  time  of  Pope  Vigilius.2  By  "  Ordinations  "  we 
must  here  understand  both  the  Pope's  own  consecration  and  the 
consecrations  or  ordinations  conferred  by  him.  The  curious  part 
of  the  matter  is  that  in  the  Liber  pontificalis  the  statements  re- 
garding the  ordinations  of  the  Popes  between  Hormisdas  and 
Vigilius  are  so  peculiar  as  to  appear  to  come  from  a  special 
source.3 

As  to  the  value  and  origin  of  the  three  earliest  lists  of  Popes, 
they  all  appear  to  be  founded  on  a  single  catalogue  compiled  in 
Rome  towards  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century.  Study  of  the 
other  early  lists  of  Popes  confirms  the  view  that  their  source  is  one 
and  the  same.  The  lost  fifth-century  list  seems,  however,  to  have 
been  compiled  with  the  aid  of  the  Chronicles  of  Jerome  and  of 
Prosper  of  Aquitania,  to  judge  by  peculiarities  in  its  names  and 
dates.  Nevertheless  the  chronology  of  the  remaining  lists  and 
even  of  the  original  one,  cannot  be  fully  trusted  until  after  the 

1  On  the  Codex  mentioned  belonging  to  the  Paris  Bibl.  Nat.  (n.  12097),  from  which 
our  illustration  is  taken,  see  DUCHESNE,  Liber  pout.,  1,  p.  xiv.,  and  Maassen,  Gesch.  der 
Qitellen,  pp.  556-574.  The  list  as  far  as  Hormisdas  is  by  an  early  sixth-century  hand. 
On  III.  214  the  names  given  are  those  of  Xystus  III.  (9  years,  &c),  Leo  (20  years,  &c), 
Hilary  (between  the  lines),  Simplicius,  Felix  III.,  Gelasius,  Anastasius,  Symmachus, 
Hormisdas,  John,  Felix  IV.,  Boniface,  John,  Agapetus,  Silverius,  and  Vigilius.  It  was 
written  between  537  and  555.  The  writing  much  resembles  the  Veronese  codex  of 
Sulpicius  Severus,  written  in  517  (Zangemeister  and  Wattenbach,  PI.  32).  Below, 
to  the  right,  is  seen  the  total  of  years.  Cp.  Duchesne's  edition  of  the  list,  I.e.  1,  p.  16, 
and  the  specimens  of  writing  from  it  in  Zangemeister  and  WATTENBACH,  Exempla 
codicum  /at.,  PI.  40,  and  Dahn,  Urgcsch.  der  germ.  Volker,  4,  301. 

2  Registrum  Gregorii  M.,  9,  n.  147  (9,  n.  52).  Cp.  Duchesne,  Melanges  darch.  el 
dhist.,  1898,  p.  403;  Grisar,  Anal,  row.,  1,  686. 

3  HARNACK,  tfber  die  Ordinationen  im  Papstbuch  (SB.  Berlin,  1897,  p.  761  ft"). 


232  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  476 

time  of  Siricius  (384).  For  the  earlier  period,  as  regards  both  the 
Liber pontificalis  and  the  Liberian  Catalogue,  we  are  obliged  to 
have  recourse  to  other  authorities  for  the  chronology  of  the  Popes. 
A  full  discussion  of  these  lists  of  the  early  Popes  does  not, 
however,  belong  to  the  scope  of  this  work.1 

One  circumstance  should,  however,  be  given  due  prominence, 
and  that  is,  that  the  list  of  the  early  Roman  Bishops,  beginning 
with  St.  Peter,  compares  very  favourably  with  other  catalogues  of 
Bishops,  as  to  the  certainty  both  of  the  succession  and  the  names, 
for  whereas  here  no  fiction  and  falsehood  have  penetrated,  the 
series  episcopomm  of  other  Churches  were  a  favourite  ground  for 
the  play  of  fancy.  Dioceses,  from  the  close  of  antiquity,  were  wont 
to  claim  descent  from  celebrated  saintly  founders,  and,  if  possible, 
to  trace  their  origin  to  disciples  of  the  Apostles,  especially  to 
missioners  sent  by  St.  Peter. 

The  Church  of  Constantinople,  in  its  efforts  to  assert  its 
equality  with  Old  Rome,  even  ascribed  its  foundation  to  an  Apostle, 
viz.  to  Andrew,  St.  Peter's  brother.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  previous 
to  the  establishment  of  the  new  Capital  by  Constantine  the  Great, 
only  one  single  Bishop  is  known  with  certainty  to  have  ruled  over 
Byzantium,  which  in  those  days  was  a  place  of  no  great  import- 
ance. This  Bishop  was  Metrophanes,  the  predecessor  of  Alexander, 
who  was  Bishop  when  Constantine  transferred  his  residence.  In 
spite  of  this,  pseudo-Dorotheus,  in  his  synopsis  of  the  History  of 
the  Constantinopolitan  Bishops,  invents  a  long  series  of  Bishops 
preceding  Metrophanes.  He  goes  back  to  St.  Andrew,  the  "first 
called  "  (Protocletos),  as  the  Greeks  were  wont  to  designate  this 
Apostle,  called  by  Christ  to  the  Apostleship  even  before  St. 
Peter.  In  this  wise  the  Apostolic  origin  of  the  See  of  New  Rome 
came  to  be  everywhere  acknowledged  in  the  East,  though  it  had 
no  historical  foundation.2 

The  Better  Legends  and  Gregory  of  Tours— 
The  "Gelasian  Decree" 

476.  Just  as  amidst  the  spurious  lists  of  Bishops  we  find 
others  as  accurate  as  those  of  Rome,  so  also  the  legendary 

1  Duchesne,  Liber  pout.,  I,  pp.  i  ff.,  xii.  ff.,  lxxviii.  ff. 

2  Cp.  CUPER,  Dissert,  hist,  chron.  de patriarchis  Constcmtinop.  {Acta  SS.,  i  August., 
§  r.  Hergenrother,  Photius,  i,  7.  The  spurious  list  may  have  begun  to  circulate 
only  at  the  time  of  Photius.  It  will  be  found  in  full  in  KYRIAKOS,  'EkkXtivuhttikti  'laropia, 
torn.  3,  p.  476. 


no. 476]  LIVES  OF  THE  SAINTS 


233 


literature  and  narratives  of  the  period  occasionally  contain  works  of 
real  historical  worth.  Two  such  legends  we  shall  instance  as  ex- 
amples of  good  popular  literature,  though,  unhappily,  they  will  not 
be  from  the  lives  of  saints  living  in  the  city  of  Rome,  for,  to  tell 
the  truth,  the  stories  of  the  Roman  saints  are  too  overloaded  with 
fiction  to  awaken  the  least  confidence.  This  sad  fact  was  perhaps 
a  result  of  the  rivalry  of  Rome's  titular  churches,  each  striving  to 
glorify  its  foundation  ;  or  perhaps  it  arose  from  the  fast  increasing 
demand  of  foreign  pilgrims  to  the  holy  tombs  of  the  metropolis 
for  the  story  of  their  favourite  saints.  One  thing  is  certain,  the 
City  containing  the  greatest  and  richest  materials  in  the  whole 
world,  particularly  on  account  of  the  wholesale  destruction  of 
documents  which  had  taken  place  in  this  centre  of  persecution, 
afforded  a  good  starting-point  for  baseless  legends. 

Among  the  narratives  which  had  not  Rome  for  their  birth- 
place, that  of  the  Abbot  Eugippius  on  St.  Severinus  and  the 
many  stories  of  Gregory,  Bishop  of  Tours,  are  pre-eminent 
for  their  naturalness  and  simplicity.  Their  style,  too,  has  the 
great  advantage  of  being  free  from  the  artificial  pedantry  of  the 
period,  and,  in  spite  of  the  excessive  credulity  with  which  Gregory 
of  Tours  has  been  charged,  they  were  pioneers  of  the  really  useful 
books  for  the  childish  and  barbarous  ages  yet  to  come.  When  no 
effort  was  made  to  secure  effect  by  a  perverted  style,  the  very 
beauty  and  grandeur  of  the  things  described  led,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  two  authors  mentioned,  to  a  natural  and  attractive  manner  of 
expression. 

The  valuable  life  of  St.  Severinus,  the  Apostle  of  Noricum, 
was  written  by  Eugippius  about  the  year  511.  In  the  simplest 
colours  it  depicts  the  missioner's  great  struggle  for  Christian 
civilisation  against  the  remains  of  Roman  Paganism  on  the  one 
hand,  and,  on  the  other,  against  the  barbarism  introduced  by  the 
Northern  immigrants.  At  the  end  we  have  a  full  account  of  how 
the  body  of  the  saint,  soon  after  his  death,  was  brought  from  the 
banks  of  the  Danube  to  Italy,  that  it  might  there  find  safe  shelter 
(488).  His  faithful  disciples  brought  him  to  Naples,  and  buried 
him  on  the  rocky  promontory,  now  the  Pizzofalcone,  where  they 
transformed  the  quondam  villa  of  Lucullus  into  a  monastery. 
The  picture  of  the  saint  and  his  pious  monks,  inheriting  the  lavish 
splendour  of  Lucullus,  is  one  well  in  keeping  with  that  of  St. 
Benedict  taking  possession  of  Nero's  Villa  on  the  Upper  Anio, 


234 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  477 


or  that  of  St.  Columban  settling  with  his  followers  in  the  ancient 
baths  of  Luxovium.  Such  incidents  bear  striking  testimony  to 
the  changes  of  the  times.1 

477.  In  the  works  of  Gregory,  Bishop  of  Tours,  we  fortunately 
no  longer  meet  that  effort  to  retain  the  waning  glories  of  classicism 
so  noticeable  in  Ennodius  and  Venantius  Fortunatus  ;  his  edifying 
narratives  are  written  in  popular  language  and  without  constraint. 
Indeed,  the  contrast  between  his  style  and  that  of  the  learned 
schools  of  his  times  is  very  striking.  It  was  to  his  freedom  from 
pedantry,  and  to  his  subjects  being  so  well  in  keeping  with  the 
spirit  of  the  early  Middle  Ages,  that  his  writings  owed  their 
popularity.  The  Frankish  author  assiduously  collects  everything 
which  comes  to  his  knowledge,  particularly  extraordinary  events, 
and  then  recounts  them  with  ease  and  at  great  length.  He  paints 
a  wonderfully  true  picture  of  life  in  his  time,  even  of  the  life  at 
the  royal  courts,  quite  oblivious  of  the  possibility  of  making 
himself  enemies  among  the  mighty  by  the  unflattering  character 
of  some  of  his  narratives.  This  Bishop,  who  died  about  the  year 
594,  was  the  father  of  Frankish  history.2 

Besides  his  principal  work,  i.e.  his  ten  books  on  the  history  of 
the  Franks,  Gregory  wrote  others — for  instance,  one  on  the  Lives 
of  the  Fathers,  in  which  he  tells  the  story  of  twenty  saintly 
bishops  and  monks  of  Gaul,  and,  as  most  of  them  were  his 
contemporaries,  and  were,  some  of  them,  personally  known  to 
him,  what  he  says  of  them  is  fresh  and  attractive.  He  further 
wrote  seven  books  on  Miracles — a  subject  in  which  he  delighted 
— four  of  them  being  on  the  miracles  of  St.  Martin,  his  great 
predecessor  in  the  See  of  Tours.  He  here  has  much  to  say 
of  what  took  place  in  his  own  day,  and  under  his  very  eyes,  at  the 
tomb  of  the  Apostle  of  Gaul,  which  even  then  was  already  a  much 
frequented  shrine.  There  can  of  course  be  no  doubt  that,  as  we 
admitted  previously,  he  is  too  willing  to  give  a  place  to  insuffi- 
ciently authenticated  miracles  which  he  had  from  hearsay ;  he 
is,  however,  too  sincere  and  too  anxious  about  the  truth  to  be 
responsible  for  any  inventions  of  his  own. 

1  Eugippii  Vita  S.  Sevcrini.  The  translation  to  castrum  Lucullanum,  c.  46.  New 
editions  of  this  life  by  Sauppe,  Mon.  Germ,  hist.,  Anctt.  antiq.,  1,  pars  2  ;  Knoll,  Corp. 
script,  eccles.  Vindob.,  ix. ;  and,  best  of  all,  by  Mommsen,  Scriptores  rer.  germ,  in  usum 
schol,  1898. 

2  Loebell,  Gregor  von  Tours  und  seine  ZeU*  (1869).  Wattenbach,  Geschichts- 
quellen*,  1,  94  to  102.    Bonnet,  Le  Latin  de  GrSgoire  de  Tours  (1890). 


no.  477]  GREGORY  OF  TOURS 


235 


One  circumstance  of  special  interest  to  us  is,  that  Gregory, 
when  writing  of  matters  Roman,  in  perfect  good  faith  makes  use 
of  the  spurious  martyr-legends  already  in  circulation.  His  un- 
pretending and  childlike  faith  seized  with  avidity  on  the  edifying 
material  provided  by  Rome,  and  circulated  throughout  the  world 
by  pilgrims  from  the  Eternal  City.  His  work  on  the  "Glory  of 
the  Martyrs "  undoubtedly  contributed  to  popularise  several  of 
the  Roman  martyrs  among  the  new  nations  of  the  West,  and  to 
stimulate  the  holy  craving  to  visit  their  tombs,  at  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Papacy. 

With  regard  to  the  most  revered  of  all  Roman  tombs,  that  of 
St.  Peter  on  the  Vatican  Hill,  the  Frankish  writer  has  left  us  the 
most  instructive  and  minute  description  of  any  which  have  come 
down  to  us,  excepting  that  in  the  Liber pontificalis.  Throughout 
his  work,  the  city  of  Rome,  in  which,  as  he  recalls,  Peter  established 
his  See  and  laid  down  his  life  with  Paul,  appears  as  the  "  Head 
of  the  World."  Though  other  Bishops  may  call  their  Sees 
"  Apostolic,"  the  Roman  is  the  "  Apostolic  See."  The  successor 
of  Peter  is  the  "  Ruler  of  the  Church  "  ;  and  in  his  narratives  we 
find  the  papa  tirbis  Romae,  as  he  calls  him,  authoritatively  inter- 
fering when  difficult  questions  are  raised.1 

Gregory  of  Tours  held  Roman  culture  in  high  esteem,  and,  as 
a  young  man,  he  had  sedulously  striven  to  profit  by  it  so  far  as 
the  means  of  the  time  allowed.  Yet  he  rightly  preferred,  when 
writing  for  his  contemporaries,  to  adopt  a  manner  entirely 
different  from  that  of  the  schools.  At  the  same  time  he  was  quite 
conscious  of  the  great  gulf  fixed  between  his  artless  style  and 
that  of  Roman  literature.  For  instance,  when  preparing  to 
relate  the  miracles  of  St.  Martin,  he  tells  us  how  his  mother 
appeared  to  him  in  a  dream,  in  order  to  urge  him  to  begin  the 
work  regardless  of  his  want  of  classical  polish.  To  his  plea 
that  his  style  was  too  "rustic,"  she  refused  to  listen.  In  this 
wise  he  testifies  to  the  struggle  which  went  on  within  him,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  his  conviction  that,  in  spite  of  the  education 
he  had  enjoyed,  he  was  utterly  unable  to  reach  the  ancient 
standard  in  point  of  polish  and  well-turned  phraseology.2 

If  Gregory  ever  experienced  any  hesitation  to  admit  into  his 

1  Greg,  on  the  Tomb  of  Peter  :  hi  gloria  mart.,  c.  27,  ed.  KRUSCH  {Man.  Germ,  hist., 
Scriptt.  merov.),  p.  504  ;  P.L.,  LXXI.,  728.  Cp.  Grisar,  Anal,  rom.,  1,285,  3QI  ff-  For 
the  other  passages  concerning  Rome,  see  Grisar,  ibid.,  356  ff. 

2  De  miraculis  S.  Martini,  Praef. 


2  ?6 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  478 


work  baseless  and  fictitious  martyr  legends,  he  nowhere  informs 
us  of  it.  Yet,  with  but  little  trouble,  he  might  have  seen  how  ill- 
founded  and  self-contradictory  were  many  of  the  stories  he  tells. 
Indeed,  the  use  and  spread  of  such  legends  had  already  been 
denounced  by  Rome,  though  not  with  sufficient  publicity  to  be  of 
any  avail.  We  are  alluding  to  the  so-called  "  Gelasian  Decree," 
the  consideration  of  which  will  form  a  fitting-  conclusion  to  this 
chapter  on  history  and  legend  at  the  close  of  antiquity. 

478.  It  is  unfortunate  that  so  little  is  known  of  the  remarkable 
decree  just  mentioned.  Its  very  authenticity  is  open  to  question, 
though  it  is  certain  that  it  originated  before  Gregory's  time.  It 
is  indeed  a  curious  fate  which  ordained  that  the  one  decree  which 
condemns  the  use  of  apocryphal  works  should  itself  be  suspected 
of  being  a  forgery. 

The  decree  contains  a  whole  list  of  books  of  which  the  use 
is  prohibited  in  the  Catholic  Church,  and  comprises  not  only 
Biblical  Apocrypha,  but  also  other  works,  both  dogmatic  and 
historical.1 

The  decree,  without  the  slightest  attempt  to  proceed  in  orderly 
fashion,  lists  haphazard  a  number  of  books,  some  of  which  are 
unorthodox,  whilst  the  only  fault  of  the  others  is  that  they  were 
written  under  an  assumed  name.  Lengthy  as  it  is,  the  list  is 
still  very  far  from  being  complete.  The  unknown  author  seems 
to  have  sought  an  excuse  for  his  omissions  in  his  prefatory 
remark:  Whatever  heretics  and  schismatics  have  written,  the 
Roman  Church  has  always  rejected,  hence  the  writer  will  mention 
only  those  few  works  which  he  recalls. 

For  instance,  mixed  up  among  other  works,  he  mentions  the 
three  apocryphal  Gospels  which  we  have  already  found  used  on 
celebrated  monuments  of  art,  viz.  pseudo-Matthew,  the  Proto- 
evangelium,  and  the  Gospel  of  the  Infancy.  As  already  stated, 
he  enumerates  nine  other  Gospels.  He  condemns  not  only  the 
Apostolic  Canons — which  is  somewhat  surprising,  seeing  the  re- 
spect shown  them  by  Dionysius  Exiguus — but  even  the  Apostolic 
Constitutions ;  at  least  we  may  take  it  that  the  Iussa  \_L71sa] 
Apostolonim,  of  which  he  speaks,  refers  to  the  latter. 

1  For  the  decree,  Thiel,  Epist.  rom.  fiont.,  p.  454  ff.  It  describes  the  books 
mentioned  as  "  libri  non  rccipicndi"  as  " rcpi/diati,"  as  " ab  omni  romana  catholica  et 
apostolica  ecclesia  eltminati"  as  "  a  catfiolicU  vitandi"  and  as  " quos  nullatenus  rccipit 
catholica  et  apostolica  romana  ecclesia." 


No.  479] 


GELASIAN  DECREE 


237 


The  style  of  the  decree  is  singularly  careless,  and  this,  as  well 
as  the  lack  of  arrangement  of  the  contents,  and  the  uncertainty 
of  its  drift,  makes  it  differ  widely  from  the  genuine  decrees  of  the 
Roman  Church,  particularly  from  those  of  Pope  Gelasius.  We 
may  take  it  as  certain  that  it  did  not  emanate  from  him,  though 
from  early  times  it  bore  his  name.  Nor  could  it  well  be  by 
Pope  Hormisdas,  though  one  of  the  critics  who  edited  the  work 
sees  his  hand  in  some  of  the  additions.  We  may,  however, 
ascribe  the  decree  to  the  time  of  Hormisdas,  or  at  least  to  the 
early  part  of  the  sixth  century.1 

It  is  not  impossible  that  the  document,  which  shows  such 
manifest  signs  of  having  been  hastily  put  together,  was  nothing 
but  the  rough  draft  of  a  decree  or  canon  to  be  passed  by  the 
Roman  Church,  but  respecting  which  no  details  have  come 
down  to  us.  In  the  MSS.  it  is  found  together  with  the  three 
decrees  on  the  Canon  of  Holy  Scripture,  on  the  Holy  Trinity,  and 
on  the  Patriarchal  Sees  which  we  have  previously  ascribed  to 
Pope  Damasus,  and  which  were  partly  repeated  by  Gelasius,  and 
perhaps  also  by  Hormisdas.  But  though  the  worth  and  authen- 
ticity of  the  so-called  Gelasianlist  of  forbidden  books  is  somewhat 
doubtful,  this  does  not  in  the  least  detract  from  the  authority  of 
the  other  three  decrees.2 

479.  At  the  cost  of  a  deal  of  toil,  much  has  already  been  done 
to  clear  the  ground  of  history  from  the  Apocrypha  and  legends 
which  have  encumbered  it  since  the  decline  of  ancient  culture,  and 
even  to-day  much  labour  is  still  being  expended  on  the  removal 
of  the  accumulated  rubbish.  This  may  serve  to  reassure  the 
reader,  if  the  above  long  enumeration  of  blunders  and  forgeries 
has  perchance  awakened  in  him  a  certain  feeling  of  distrust  even 
of  the  Church's  real  traditions.  Certainty  is  after  all  only  to  be 
attained  at  the  price  of  sacrificing  falsehood  to  criticism.  The 
sources  which  have  supplied  us  with  material  for  our  History  of 
Rome  and  the  Popes  are  very  different  from  that  fictitious  litera- 
ture which  falsely  claims  the  right  to  rank  among  the  sources  of 

1  Roux  (Le  fiape  Gelase  Ier,  p.  169  ff.)  denies  its  authenticity.  See  my  remarks  in 
Zeitschr.fur  kath.  Theol.,%  (1884),  204  ff.  Friedrich  (SB.  der  bayr.  Akad.  der  W„ 
phil.-hist.  KL,  1888,  1,  54  ff.)  considers  the  decree  a  private  compilation.  Cp.  the  works 
of  Friedrich  and  Thiel  already  quoted,  vol.  i.  p.  335,  note  2.  The  question  is  by  no 
means  settled. 

2  For  these  decrees  of  Pope  Damasus,  see  above,  vol.  i.  p.  337  ff. 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  479 


history.  Even  when  we  have  been  compelled  to  have  recourse 
to  works  in  which  truth  is  mingled  with  error,  we  have  at 
least  endeavoured  to  sift  conscientiously  what  is  trustworthy  from 
that  which  is  not.  All  we  have  hitherto  said  concerning  the 
Papacy  and  the  Eternal  City  has  invariably  been  based  on  the 
real  sources  of  historical  knowledge — on  official  and  contemporary 
documents  of  the  Popes,  on  monuments  which  are  still  before 
our  eyes,  and  on  the  statements  of  the  best  informed  and  most 
veracious  chroniclers.  Our  historical  narrative  will  continue  to  pro- 
ceed on  these  same  lines.  We  shall  not  allow  either  fear  or  favour 
to  deter  us  from  telling  the  truth  in  its  entirety.  It  has  been 
rightly  said  that  now,  if  ever,  the  history  of  the  Popes  requires 
that  the  truth  should  be  told,  and  nothing  but  the  truth.  "  If 
thou  hast  ever  so  slightly  swerved  from  the  straight  way,"  writes 
Jerome,  "no  matter  whether  to  the  right  or  to  the  left,  thou  hast 
forsaken  the  true  road."  Cassiodorus,  too,  points  out  that 
everything  stated  by  the  historian  of  the  Church  is  useful  for 
instruction  and  edification,  and  allows  us  to  perceive  the  hand  of 
Providence  guiding  the  course  of  human  affairs.  Surely  this 
thought  should  encourage  us  to  tell  the  truth  under  all  circum- 
stances, even  when  by  doing  so  we  may  seem  disrespectful  to 
persons  or  institutions  which  we  rightly  hold  in  veneration.1 

1  Hieronym.,  Comment,  in  Mattk.,  6,  i  ;  P.L.,  XXII.,  42.  Jerome  in  the  sentence 
quoted  above  is  speaking  of  virtues  in  general,  but  the  historian's  first  and  leading  virtue 
is  veracity.    Cassiod.,  De  instit.  aiv.  litt.,  2,  c.  17. 


CHAPTER  III 


LANGUAGE   AND   ART  OF   DECLINING  ROME 

Vulgar  Latin — The  Church's  Language 

480.  The  decline  of  education  and  literature  was  marked  by  the 
decay  of  classic  Latinity  and  the  rise  of  vulgar  Latin. 

The  Latin  literary  language  had  indeed  never  been  general 
among  all  people  of  education.  Even  in  classical  Rome,  plebeians 
and  patricians  in  everyday  life  expressed  themselves  otherwise 
than  the  prose-writers  and  poets  whom  we  are  accustomed  to 
look  on  as  the  sole  representatives  of  the  Latin  language.  The 
difference  between  the  two  fashions  of  speech  was  very  great, 
and  sometimes  even  greater  than  that  existing  to-day  between 
popular  dialects  and  the  written  language.  The  Latin  of  the 
Roman  lower  classes  was  called  lingtia  vulgaris.  The  speech  of 
the  rural  population,  or  lingua  rustica,  ranked  even  lower  than 
that  of  the  towns ;  on  the  other  hand,  very  likely  the  speech  of 
the  more  educated  was  somewhat  better  than  the  common  or 
vulgar  idiom,  though  they,  too,  had  to  acquire  at  the  cost  of  some 
difficulty  their  knowledge  of  the  language  as  written.1 

When,  towards  the  end  of  the  Empire,  the  population  both 
of  the  towns  and  of  the  country  began  to  dwindle  ;  when  the 
Latins  began  to  mix  with  emancipated  slaves  of  every  nation, 
and  with  the  barbarian  conquerors  of  the  Roman  provinces ; 
when,  amidst  the  universal  upheaval,  literature  and  the  schools 
were  submerged,  vulgar  Latin  was  obliged  to  admit  more  and 
more  of  the  foreign  element.  Thereby,  however,  it  increased 
its  boundaries  and  its  power,  though  at  the  expense  of  the 
language  of  Caesar  and  Cicero.  Finally  the  popular  language 
found  its  way  into  literature,  and  its  success  was  assured. 

As  is  well  known,  the  Romance  languages  proceeded  from  the 
vulgar  Latin,  the  popular  speech  in  its  last  state  of  disorder  and 
corruption  being  variously  modified  by  the  different  races  and  in 

1  Teuffel-Schwabe,  p.  1227  ;  Monceaux,  Le  latin  vulgaire  {Rev.  des  deux-mondes, 
106  (1891),  429-448),  and  also  separately. 

239 


240 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  480 


the  several  countries.  According  to  an  opinion  once  common, 
held,  for  instance,  by  Lorenzo  Valla,  matters  happened  otherwise, 
and  it  was  the  "  Goths  and  Vandals "  who  destroyed  the  Latin 
language  in  Italy,  substituting  their  own.  Such  a  theory,  which 
it  is  needless  to  discuss  here,  could  have  been  advanced  only 
when  philology  was  yet  in  its  infancy.1 

As  a  matter  of  fact  we  meet  the  vulgar  Latin  among  the  Latin 
comic  writers  even  of  the  best  period.  In  ancient  Rome  it  was 
common,  for  instance,  to  use  "  caballo,"  for  "  equus"  "  sommo," 
for  " somnus"  "  oro  "  for  " aurum"  "oricla"  for  "  atiriaila."  An 
orator  in  the  Senate  would,  however,  take  good  care  to  make 
use  of  no  such  vulgar  words.  It  is  just  these  popular  words  which 
asserted  themselves  in  Italian  and  in  French,  where  we  have 
cheval,  cavallo  (horse),  sommeil,  sonno  (sleep),  or,  oro  (gold), 
oreille,  orecchia  or  orecchio  (ear).  Or  again,  the  word  hostis, 
from  the  earliest  Latin  days,  in  the  mouth  of  the  populace  meant 
a  stranger  or  traveller,  and  in  this  popular  sense,  and  not  as  in 
the  least  implying  any  "hostility,"  it  has  passed  into  the  two 
Romance  languages  mentioned.  Hote,  hotellerie,  oste,  osteria 
(host,  hostel)  retain  the  ancient  popular  meaning  which,  in  good 
Latin,  would  be  associated  with  hospes. 

In  the  lengthy  process  which  ended  in  popular  Latin  making 
its  triumphal  entry  into  literature,  the  Church  took  a  part  which 
is  not  open  to  dispute. 

The  Church's  preachers  sought  above  all  things  to  make 
themselves  understood  by  the  people.  The  Church's  theologians 
were  also  faced  by  the  task  of  finding  fresh  means  of  expressing 
ideas  which  then  were  novel.  As  the  refined  language  of  the 
schools  was  found  less  handy  owing  to  its  want  of  the  needful 
flexibility,  spirituality,  and  depth,  many  new  terms  were  coined 
with  the  help  of  the  more  pliant  Latin  spoken  by  the  people. 
Once  introduced  into  current  usage,  these  terms  had  to  be  re- 
tained, as  otherwise  endless  confusion  would  have  been  the 
result. 

"  Our  business,"  says  Tertullian,  "  is  to  win  souls  by  means  of 
religion,  and  not  to  make  a  show  of  fine  language."  Augustine, 
in  a  homily,  likewise  tells  his  hearers :  "  I  often  use  words  which 

1  VALLA,  Elegantiarum  lib.  3,  Praef.  :  "  Postquajn  hae  gentes  \Gothi  et  Vaiidali\ 
scmel  iterumque  Jtaliae  i7iflne7ites  Romam  ceperunt,  lit  imperium  eorum,  ita  linguam 
quoque,  qucmadmodum  aliqui  putant,  accepimns  et  pluritni  forsan  ex  illis  oriundi 

SU//IUS." 


No.  481] 


CHURCH-LATIN 


241 


are  not  good  Latin,  but  I  do  so  that  you  may  the  better  under- 
stand me."  And  again  he  says:  "I  would  rather  be  called  to 
order  by  the  grammarians,  than  not  be  understood  by  the 
people."  1 

The  earliest  Latin  translations  of  the  Scriptures,  known  as 
the  Itala,  were  in  vulgar  Latin,  and  furnished  the  foundation  on 
which  the  ecclesiastical  language  was  built.  Whether  these  trans- 
lations  really  came  from  Africa,  as  was  once  commonly  supposed, 
is  very  doubtful.  There  is  perhaps  better  reason  to  claim  that 
they  were  made  in  Italy  or  even  in  Rome.  They  follow  closely 
the  Greek,  and  for  the  Old  Testament  are  based  on  the  Septua- 
gint  as  it  existed  before  the  composition  of  the  Hexapla.  This 
accounts  for  the  number  of  Greek  and  Hebrew  idioms  which  the 
Itala  contained,  and  which  passed  into  the  Church's  language. 
To  some  extent,  too,  the  sonorous  and  imaginative  tone  of  the 
Greek  and  Hebrew  languages  also  entered  into  Church- Latin 
by  way  of  the  old  translations  of  the  Bible.2 

481.  No  little  influence  on  the  formation  of  religious  and 
theological  Latin  was  exercised  by  Cyprian,  Tertullian,  and 
Augustine.  They  were  all  Africans,  a  circumstance  which 
explains  many  striking  peculiarities  of  Church-Latin.  The  works 
of  these  three  authors  were  by  no  means  devoid  of  grace, 
Augustine  particularly,  the  quondam  rhetor,  often  reaches  perfec- 
tion both  in  language  and  style.  All  three,  however,  betray  the 
linguistic  influence  of  their  surroundings,  and  are  given  to  the 
inflated  mode  of  writing  so  prevalent  in  North  Africa.  North 
African  prose  was  sonorous  to  excess,  for  in  those  regions  the 
so-called  Asiatic  style  was  still  in  vogue  with  its  rhetorical 
mannerisms,  which  are  noticeable  even  in  earlier  Greek  and  Latin 
writers  who  came  under  Asiatic  influence.  In  the  African  pro- 
vinces of  the  Empire,  Latin  was  moreover  situated  between 
the  zone  of  the  Libyan  language,  now  spoken  by  the  Berbers, 

1  Augustinus,  Enarr.  in  fis.  138,  n.  20  :  "Melius  est  reprehendant  nos  grammatici 
quam  non  intelligant populi."  Cp.  HiERONYMUS,  Ep,  64  ad  Fabiolam,c.  11  :  "  Volo pro 
legentis facilitate  abuti  sermone  vulgato."    MONCEAUX,  I.e.,  p.  440. 

2  On  the  Itala,  see  Teuffel-Schwabe,  p.  942.  Ziegler  is  among  the  opponents  of 
an  African  origin,  Z)ze  lateinischen  Bibeliibetjsetsungen  vor  Hieronymus,  1879.  E.  Ranke 
(Fragmenta  versionis  S.  Script,  antcliieronym.,  1868,  p.  3)  says  of  its  Roman  origin  : 
"  quum  auspiciis,  tit  omnino  credibile  est,  ecclesiac  romanae  prodierit."  According  to 
J.  R.  Harris  (A  Study  of  the  Codex  Bezae,  1893),  tne  Itala  was  in  existence  as  early  as 
the  beginning  of  the  second  century. 

VOL.  III.  Q 


242 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  481 


and  the  Punic,  which  was  retained  down  to  the  Arab  conquest, 
and,  to  add  to  the  confusion,  Hebrew  was  also  spoken  here  and 
there.  The  vicinity  of  these  three  different  languages  explains 
not  only  the  importation  of  certain  foreign  elements  into  African 
Latin,  but  also  its  undue  emphasis  and  exuberant  expression 
as  well  as  its  grandiloquence  and  sonorousness.  Of  all  this  the 
Church's  language  bears  the  marks.1 

In  Church- Latin  we  find  a  rhythmic  measure  used  even  in 
the  prose  portions  of  the  liturgy.  Something  similar  may,  how- 
ever, be  noticed  in  like  productions  of  antiquity,  both  Greek  and 
Latin.  The  hymns,  which  were  no  longer  ruled  by  prosodial 
quantity  like  the  classical  poems,  but  by  the  tonic  accent  which 
here  forms  the  metre,  remained  in  the  Church's  use.  In  the 
liturgical  prose,  it  is  easy  to  perceive  the  rhythm  in  the  early 
prayers  used  in  the  Mass  on  Sundays,  and  in  the  venerable 
Prefaces  which  lead  up  to  the  Canon.  To  the  "  cursus  planus," — 
to  use  the  name  invented  by  later  grammarians — belong,  for 
instance,  the  endings,  "  nostris  mftinde,"  "  largire  cidpdrwn" 
"  devotidnis  affdctu"  " reficidmur  injmdnte"  \  to  the  "cursus 
tardus":  " dignos  effkiant"  " sacramdnta  qnae^sumpsimus" ;  to 
the  "cursus  velox  "  :  "  gloridm  pdrducdmur"  "  actidnibus  drudita" 
"  Spiritus  sdncti  Ddus."  Pope  Gelasius,  whose  name  is  associated 
with  the  composition  of  the  second-oldest  sacramentary,  was  also 
an  African  by  birth,  a  circumstance  which  must  likewise  be  kept  in 
view  when  dealing  with  the  Church's  Latin.  We  are  told  that 
Gelasius  wrote  certain  liturgical  and  theological  documents  "  cauto 
et  deliniato  sermone"  and  this  praise,  found  in  an  early  source,  is 
truly  due  to  many  of  the  Church's  early  prayers,  especially  to 
those  for  each  Sunday  of  the  ecclesiastical  year,  whether  they 
were  actually  composed  by  Gelasius,  or  not.2 

The  influence  of  the  Church  on  the  Latin  literary  language 
was  in  no  sense  disadvantageous,  but  rather  tended  to  preserve  it. 
Many  church  writers,  by  the  individuality  of  their  style,  so  dif- 
ferent from  the  pedantry  of  the  schools,  really  contributed  to  the 
reinvio-oration  and  revival  of  literature.  The  revival  was,  how- 
ever,  not  to  last,  and  the  doom  of  Latin  literature  was  already 
sealed. 

1  NORDEN,  Die  antike  Kunstprosa,  pp.  596  ff.,  634  ff.    Monceaux,  I.e.,  p.  441. 

2  Norden,  ibid.,  pp.  841  ff.,  909  ff.,  950  ff.  Monceaux,  I.e.,  p.  442.  Liber  pont.,  1, 
255,  Gelasius,  n.  74,  and  Duchesne,  note  14.  A.  de  Santi,  //  cursus  nella  storia  let- 
tcraria  e  nella  liturgia  (ed.  ampliata,  Rom.,  1903). 


no.4s3]  DECLINE  OF  LATIN ITY 


243 


482.  Turning  our  attention  more  closely  to  the  changes  in  the 
Latin  vocabulary  introduced  in  the  sixth  century  and  even  earlier, 
we  find  many  Byzantine  expressions.  Ever  since  Italy  had  been 
ruled  from  the  East,  and  a  crowd  of  Greek  officials  and  mercen- 
aries had  descended  on  the  country,  such  an  influence  was  inevit- 
able. The  language,  too,  gradually  lost  all  power  of  resistance  in 
consequence  of  the  want  of  schools  and  of  good  Latin  models. 
The  Greeks,  through  their  contributions  to  the  Latin  tongue, 
returned  the  Romans  even  more  than  they  had  themselves 
received. 

Previous  to  that  period  many  Western  expressions  had  made 
their  way  into  Greek.  Particularly  since  the  reforms  carried  out 
by  Diocletian  and  Constantine,  official  Greek,  and,  finally,  even 
everyday  Greek,  had  given  admission  to  a  great  number  of  Latin 
words,  which  in  the  Eastern  characters  have  indeed  a  strange 
appearance,  though  constantly  met  with  ;  such  are  "  Kentourion," 
"  Komes,"  "  Doux,"  "  Desertor,"  "  Koustodia,"  &c. 1 

On  the  other  side,  Greek  words  have  also  invaded  Latin.  St. 
Benedict,  in  his  celebrated  Rule,  not  only  uses  Greek  words  for 
liturgical  matters,  as  the  Church  herself  had  done  before,  e.g. 
"  letania,"  "  ebdomadarius,"  "  synaxis,"  "antefana"  (Benedict's 
spelling  for  "  antiphona "),  but  even  employs  so  odd-sounding  a 
word  as  "senpecta"  (from  o-i//*7ra//cT>??,  playmate)  in  the  meaning 
of  member  of  the  community.  Probably  the  Saint  was  acquainted 
to  some  extent  with  Greek,  though  it  can  be  proved  that  he  did 
not  read  Greek  writers  in  the  original,  but  in  the  translation  of 
Rufinus. 

483.  Benedict's  Latin  had  come  under  the  influence  of  the 
latinitas  vulgaris  or  rustica,  the  result  being  that  he  makes  not  a 
few  grammatical  mistakes.  For  instance,  when  speaking  of  the 
brethren's  repose  at  night,  he  says  :  " pausent  in  lecta  sua,"  where 
" pausare"  (to  rest)  comes  from  the  Greek  iraveo-Qai,  and  the  use  of 
the  nominative  instead  of  the  ablative  is  due  to  the  prevalence  of 
vulgar  Latin. 

If  philology  at  the  present  time  is  turning  with  special  interest 
to  the  last  of  the  Latins,  hitherto  so  little  studied,  it  is  because 
it  finds  a  great  new  sphere  of  action  among  these  writers.  It 


KcvTovpluv,  Ku>/J.r)t,  5oi5£,  Stotproip,  KOvcrruSia,  v^p/3os,  wpaiTiipiov,  dtirdvLTa,  firjXov,  &c. 


244 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  483 


is  rightly  anxious  to  investigate  both  the  popular  speech  of 
earlier  days  and  the  beginnings  of  the  Romance  languages. 
Among  the  writers  of  those  days  Benedict  deserves  special 
attention. 

On  account  of  the  extent  to  which  his  Rule  was  adopted,  it 
greatly  influenced  the  language,  particularly  in  certain  fields.  This 
is  partly  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Rule  has  been  preserved  almost 
intact  in  its  ancient  form,  for  instance  in  the  MSS.  of  St.  Gall, 
Vienna,  Monte-Cassino,  and  of  Oxford.  The  Rule  as  it  left  the 
hand  of  the  founder,  with  all  its  defects  in  style  and  construction, 
can  be  restored  with  tolerable  certainty  with  the  help  of  these  and 
other  codices.  Out  of  respect  for  the  Saint,  the  early  copyists  did 
not  venture  to  correct  his  errors.  Many  other  writers  of  the 
period  were  treated  otherwise,  so  that  it  is  unfortunately  diffi- 
cult now  to  form  a  correct  opinion  of  the  real  quality  of  their 
Latin  until  the  oldest  and  most  faithful  codices  shall  have  been 
examined.1 

St.  Benedict  was,  without  a  doubt,  well  versed  in  learning, 
havinQf  attended  the  schools  of  Rome  before  fleeing  from  the 
world.  If,  therefore,  he  allows  so  many  faults  of  language  to 
escape  him,  this  merely  proves  him  to  have  been  too  absorbed  by 
the  importance  of  his  subject  to  attach  any  weight  to  its  form, 
which  possibly  he  intended  to  improve  later,  though  he  does  not 
seem  to  have  done  so. 

Cassiodorus,  who  wrote  at  the  same  time,  and  who  also  had  a 
Roman  training,  compared  with  Benedict,  is  a  real  classic  despite 
his  laboured  and  long-winded  manner.  By  his  very  faults  he 
demonstrates  his  attachment  to  classical  polish. 

1  Cp.  Wolfflin,  Das  Lutein  Bcnedikts  von  Nursia  {Arc/iiv  fiir  lateinische  Lexico- 
graphic tend  Grammatik,  9  (1896),  493-521).  Other  instances  from  the  Rule:  "  tres 
/cctiones  cum  responsoria  sua"  (9,  20);  " de  sedilia  sua  sur^ant"  (9,  15);  " si  fallitus 
fueriV  (from  fat/ere,  45.  3);  " propter  diver sorum  infirmitatibus"  (39,  3)  ;  "  excepto  hos, 
quos  .  .  .  praetu/erit"  (instead  of  " execptis  his"  63,  13).  These  extracts  are  from  the 
Rule  edited  by  Wolfflin.  Cp.  his  article  Bencdikt  von  Nursia  und  seine  Mbnchsregel, 
SB.  der  bayr,  Akad.,  1895,  P-  429~452-  Wolfflin  was  followed  by  Traube,  who  sub- 
mitted the  language  of  the  Rule  to  a  fresh  examination  :  Textgesc/i.  der  Regula  S. 
Benedict!',  in  Abh.  der  bayr.  Akad.,  vol.  xxi.,  3,  p.  599-731.  He  shows  that  the  first  three 
MSS.  mentioned  above  most  closely  resemble  the  original  (destroyed  in  896  during  the 
fire  at  the  monastery  of  Teano).  The  Oxford  Codex,  followed  by  Wolfflin,  contains 
merely  the  interpolated  edition  of  the  Rule  made  by  Abbot  Simplicius,  ca.  560,  which 
was  the  text  commonly  used  until  about  the  year  800.  Cp.  Weyman,  Hist.  Ja/irb.,  1898, 
p.  726  ff.  Traube  (see  above,  p.  20,  note  1)  failed  to  edit  the  Rule.  In  1892  appeared  a 
new  edition  by  E.  Schmidt,  O.S.B.,  made  on  several  MSS.,  who  also  had  an  article  on 
Die  wissenschaftliche  Bit  dung des  hi.  Bencdikt  (Studien  und  Mitth.  des  Bencdikfiner-  und 
Cistercienserordens,  9,  1888,  57  ff.,  234  ff.,  361  ff.,  553  ff. 


no.  4s4]  DECLINE  OF  LATINITY  245 


Some  Representatives  of  Latin  in  its  Decline 

484.  To  take  some  other  works,  the  humble  author  of  the 
Liber pontificalis  betrays  by  his  Latin  the  sad  state  of  the  popular 
language  at  the  time  he  wrote,  for  his  speech  swarms  with  gram- 
matical faults.  Those  who  continued  his  chronicle  down  to 
Carlovingian  times  are  not  one  whit  better.  For  instance,  in  the 
notice  on  Pope  Pelagius  I.  we  read  :  " Initiata  est  basilica  aposto- 
lorum  Philippi  et  Iacobi ;  qui  dum  initiaretur"  &c.  And  previ- 
ously :  "Pelagius  in  anibone  ascendit."  Of  his  successor, 
John  III.,  it  states  that  he  was  "  ex  patre  Anastasio  iniustrio" 
(for  "inlustri"),  and  further,  "Hie  instituit  ut  ministraretur 
oblationem"  for  "  oblatio."  1 

We  can  see  thereby  that  the  authors  of  the  Liber  pontificalis 
were  members  of  the  lower  clergy,  in  no  wise  above  the  rest  of 
the  common  people,  whose  acquaintance,  moreover,  with  the  studies 
then  being  pursued  at  Rome  was  somewhat  remote.  For,  even 
then,  the  City  was  not  devoid  of  schools  where  pupils  were  taught 
to  avoid  such  blunders  and  to  select  their  words  so  as  to  express 
themselves  with  grace  and  lucidity. 

The  discipline  of  such  a  learning  is  pleasantly  conspicuous  in 
Gregory  the  Great,  towards  the  close  of  the  sixth  century.  He 
himself,  it  is  true,  speaks  humbly  of  his  own  manner  of  writing  : 
"  I  make  no  effort  to  avoid  barbarisms,  I  pay  no  heed  to  the  posi- 
tion of  the  prepositions  or  their  case."  He  even  declares  that  he 
deems  it  "  very  unfitting  to  make  the  words  of  heavenly  doctrine 
submit  to  the  rules  of  Donatus."  We  should,  however,  be  doing 
the  Pope  an  injustice  did  we  take  such  declarations  too  literally. 
His  writings  are  free  from  faults  of  grammar.  It  is  true  his 
language  is  far  from  being  as  pure  and  harmonious  as  that  of  the 
classics,  or  even  of  some  of  the  earlier  Fathers.  Nevertheless 
his  Latin  is  always  good  and  to  the  point,  and  occasionally  not 
wanting  in  quiet  elegance  and  dignity,  particularly  when  he 
avoids  his  common  failing  of  lingering  too  long  over  his  subject 
or  treating  it  allegorically.2 

The  documents  drafted  at  the  Papal  Curia  long  maintained 

1  Ed.  Duchesne,  i,  303,  n.  109;  1,  305,  n.  110. 

2  " Non  barbarismi  co7ifusioncm  devito"  &c.  Epist.  ad Leandrutn,  ante  Praef.  Moral., 
c.  5  ;  P.L.,  LXXV.,  516. 


246 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  484 


a  high  standard  with  regard  both  to  style  and  linguistic  pre- 
cision. In  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries  they  rank  above  the 
official  deeds  of  the  various  government  offices  and  courts  ;  they 
are,  for  instance,  far  better  than  those  found  in  the  archives  of 
the  Merovingian  kings.  In  the  eighth  century,  however,  before 
the  Carlovingian  revival  had  touched  Rome,  the  Papal  letters,  so 
far  at  least  as  we  can  judge  from  the  form  in  which  they  have 
come  down  to  us,  were  sharing  in  the  general  decay  of  language. 

Among  the  few  writers  of  the  Merovingian  kingdom  was 
Gregory  of  Tours,  of  whom  we  have  already  spoken.  In  spite 
of  his  education  and  talent,  his  is  a  debased  and  faulty  Latin. 
We  stated  above  that  he  wisely  shook  himself  free  from  the 
academical  rhetoric  in  vogue  ;  we  may  now  add  that  his  books 
make  us  vividly  realise  the  fate  of  Latin,  even  in  Rome  itself. 
The  Bishop  of  Tours,  in  his  mode  of  speech,  follows  largely  the 
lingua  vulgaris.  He  even  charges  himself  with  this  at  the  begin- 
ning of  several  of  his  works,  and  the  self-accusation,  which  was 
exaggerated  in  the  case  of  Gregory  the  Great,  is  quite  justified 
in  that  of  his  namesake  of  Tours.  "  Pardon  me,"  he  says,  "  if  I 
offend  against  the  laws  of  grammar  with  regard  to  letters  and 
syllables."  He  depicts  his  readers  rightly  scolding  him  as 
follows :  "  Thou  canst  not  even  distinguish  nouns,  masculine 
words  thou  mistakest  for  feminine,  and  feminine  for  masculine, 
or,  instead  of  either,  thou  usest  the  neuter.  Even  the  prepositions 
thou  knowest  not  how  to  use,  and,  against  all  learned  authority, 
thou  puttest  an  accusative  instead  of  an  ablative,  and  vice  versa!' 1 

In  such  wise  does  he  humorously  own  his  faults.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  one  could  well  answer  him  :  "  Quite  so,  but  thine 
avowal  falleth  short  of  the  truth,  for  thou  confoundest  not  the 
cases  alone  but  even  the  moods,  playing  havoc  with  the  whole 
Latin  conjugation  by  using  auxiliary  verbs  to  express  future  and 
past.  Thou  art  reducing  the  declensions  to  two  cases — one 
direct,  and  the  other  indirect,  and  expressing  the  remainder  with 
the  help  of  prepositions." 

By  closely  examining  the  imperfections  of  his  style,  one  obtains 
an  insight  into  the  transition  from  Latin  to  French.  In  Italy 
Latin  underwent  a  similar  process  before  arriving  at  the  Italian 

1  GREG.  Tur.,  De  gloria  confessorum,  Praefatio.  Cp.  Hist.  Franc,  Praef.,  where 
the  author  excuses  himself  with  the  remark  that  he  had  often  noted  with  surprise  that 
whereas  few  people  understood  a  pedantic  writer,  many  could  follow  the  words  of  a 
plain  man. 


no. 485]  DECLINE  OF  LATINITY 


247 


of  to-day.  Two  cases  only  were  retained  in  the  Romance 
languages,  final  syllables  were  disregarded,  and  the  relationship 
of  the  words  was  expressed  by  prepositions.  The  non-Latin 
words,  purloined  by  the  Frankish  writer  from  the  popular  voca- 
bulary of  his  country,  were  to  become  an  ornament  of  the  French 
language,  giving  it  an  aspect  of  its  own  and  all  the  charms  of 
youth.1 

With  all  its  defects  of  style,  the  Frankish  history  written 
by  Gregory  of  Tours  provides  us,  however,  with  some  delightful 
reading,  is  a  homely  account  of  actual  facts,  and  is  all  the  more 
valuable  from  being  the  earliest  history  of  the  nation. 

485.  It  is  a  surprising  fact  that  in  the  sixth  century  the 
Greek  Empire  also  produced  two  Latin  works  of  great  interest 
in  the  history  of  the  language.  Constantinople,  or  New  Rome, 
the  seat  of  the  Empire,  held  the  whole  world  in  thrall,  even 
from  an  intellectual  point  of  view,  and,  from  the  City  on  the 
Bosphorus,  a  civilisation  deserving  of  all  respect  was  spreading 
wherever  Byzantine  influence  was  felt. 

It  was  in  Latin,  and  at  Constantinople,  under  the  Emperor 
Anastasius,  that  Priscianus,  the  grammarian,  wrote  the  best  and 
fullest  work  in  existence  on  the  Latin  language,  namely,  his 
Instihitiones  grammaticae,  comprising  eighteen  books.  The 
MSS.  show  it  to  have  been  copied  "in  tirbe  Roma  Con- 
stantinopoli"  by  Flavius  Theodorus,  an  "  antiquarius "  or 
engrosser.  The  number  of  MSS.  proves  the  extent  to  which 
Priscianus  was  studied  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Nor  was  he 
the  only  Latin  grammarian  in  the  East,  for  we  must  also  reckon 
his  disciples,  Eutyches,  Theodorus,  Flavianus,  and  others.2 

The  other  Latin  work  penned  by  a  Greek  has  not  attained 
such  wide  celebrity  as  the  first,  on  account  of  the  nature  of 
its  contents.  For  the  history  of  the  decline  of  the  Latin  tongue, 
it  is,  however,  very  valuable,  and  is  of  some  significance  in  the 
history  of  civilisation.  We  refer  to  Anthimus'  De  observatione 
ciborttm,  a  sort  of  guide  for  housekeepers  and  cooks,  written 
at  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century  and  dedicated  to  King 
Theodoric.    The  Greek  author  had  learnt  his  Latin  in  Italy 

1  MONCEAUX,  Le  latin  vulgaire,  p.  444. 

2  On  Priscianus,  see  Teuffel-Schwabe,  p.  1242.  The  chief  edition  is  in  Keil, 
Gratnmatici  latini,  vols.  ii.  and  iii.    Leipzig,  1 8 55—1859. 


248 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.486 


during  the  Gothic  period,  and  his  language  is  accordingly  collo- 
quial rather  than  literary ;  indeed,  he  acquaints  us  admirably 
with  the  vulgar  idiom  then  in  vogue  in  Italy.  For  instance,  he 
uses  "  de"  for  the  genitive  and  "  ille  "  for  the  article,  two  words 
retained  in  Italian.  The  verb  "to  become"  he  renders  by 
" devenire"  and  "good  evening"  by  "dona  sera."  His  word 
"  caballicare"  has  since  grown  into  "  cavalcare,"  and  "medietas" 
into  "  medieta,"  &c.a 

486.  Even  better  witnesses  to  the  condition  of  the  language 
in  Rome  exist  in  a  number  of  extant  inscriptions  of  the  sixth 
century,  which,  with  unimpeachable  certainty,  show  the  decline 
of  grammar  in  the  Capital  of  the  Latin  world.  Here  we  have 
no  fear  of  the  work  having  been  touched  up  by  later  copyists, 
but  may  rest  assured  that  we  have  before  us  the  actual  language 
of  the  day.2 

The  two  following  examples  are  not  epitaphs  on  people  of 
the  lower  class,  carelessly  chiselled  by  some  ignorant  stone- 
mason, like  so  many  of  the  faulty  inscriptions  in  the  catacombs. 
Everything  points  to  the  epitaphs  in  question  having  been  com- 
posed and  executed  according  to  the  best  talent  of  the  day.  Both 
inscriptions  belong  to  the  close  of  the  sixth  century. 

One  is  that  metrical  epitaph  of  Eugenius,  the  notary,  and  his 
family,  inscribed  on  a  massive  marble  tablet  which  contains  the 
praise  of  his  little  son,  Boethius  (see  above,  p.  101).  At  the  end 
it  is  stated  that  provision  had  been  made  by  will  for  oblations  and 
lights  :  "  ex  testanienti  paginam  ad  oblatione  vel  luminaria"  The 
garden  given  for  this  purpose  lay,  as  the  epitaph  says,  "  ittxta 
poi'ta  porttiense "  ;  in  addition  a  portion  of  a  fundus  or  estate 
was  also  devised  as  a  gift :  "fundi  quod  est  constittitum  via 
labicana  inter  affines  fundi  capitiniani"  &c.3 

The  second  epitaph  is  that  of  Eusebius,  near  St.  Paul's 
Basilica.  This  pious  and  charitable  man,  after  having  finished  the 
restoration  of  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Basilica  (see  above,  p.  82  f.), 
erected  a  memorial  tablet,  which  still  exists.    The  inscription 

1  Teuffel-Schwabe,  p.  1264,  ed.  V.  Rose,  Leipzig,  1877. 

2  It  is  well  known  that  Vulgar  Latin,  with  its  absence  of  law,  held  a  high  place  in  the 
catacomb  inscriptions.  Cp.  the  epitaph  of  the  catacomb  of  Callistus :  GENVARVS 
PLACVID  SE  VNITER  PONI  CVM  AMICVM  SVVM  SIBERINV,  i.e.  "  Iannario 
placuit?  &.c.  (de  Rossi,  Roma  soft.,  I.,  tav.  27,  n.  8). 

a  Text  in  Anal,  row.,  1,  153. 


No.  487] 


DECLINE  OF  ART 


249 


testifies  as  much  to  the  deplorable  state  of  Latin  as  to  the 
damage  done  to  the  church,  and  repaired  by  Eusebius.  Ac- 
cording to  the  text  he  himself  had  restored  :  picturas  quas  in 
ruinas  erat  tolas'''  also  " tectum  cum  tegulas,"  likewise  "marmora 
quae  minus  habuit "  ;  among  other  things,  "  in  sziperiora  marmor- 
avit  palatiuvi."  His  "Alumni"  or  assistants,  had  put  up  bars  to 
keep  out  thieves,  "causa  fures,  cia  midta  mala  facentT  The 
inscription  contains  a  number  of  vernacular  architectural  terms, 
which  might  be  sought  in  vain  among  standard  Latin  authors, 
such  as  "spec/arum,"  "  c/ostrum,"  "  incinus,"  "  manganum."  1 

Even  the  solemn  dedicatory  inscriptions  of  the  Popes  in  the 
Basilicas  they  had  erected  or  restored  do  not  always  escape 
the  influence  of  the  bad  taste  prevailing.  They  are  not,  indeed, 
disfigured  by  faults  of  grammar,  like  the  epitaphs  of  Eugenius 
and  Eusebius,  but  their  phraseology  is  often  so  ponderous  and 
so  involved  as  to  be  scarcely  intelligible,  particularly  when  the 
inscriptions  are  in  verse.  For  instance,  we  may  still  read  under 
the  mosaic  of  Pope  Honorius  (1638),  in  the  Basilica  of  St.  Agnes 
on  the  Via  Nomentana,  six  distichs,  a  chaotic  assemblage  of 
sounding  words,  of  which  only  the  general  drift  can  be  guessed. 
In  this  inscription  we  have  a  masterpiece  of  linguistic  impotence 
and  want  of  taste,  The  six  distichs  might  well  have  been  con- 
densed into  one.2 


Last  Efforts  of  Art  in  Rome  and  Ravenna 

487.  The  poetical  inscription  in  Sant'  Agnese  is  in  entire 
keeping  with  the  mosaic  itself.  This,  too,  proclaims  the  universal 
decay,  and  betrays  the  incapacity  of  a  period  which  seeks  effect 
by  lavish  attention  to  mere  accessories. 

In  the  centre  of  the  mosaic  (vol.  ii.,  111.  156)  stands  the 
Virgin-Martyr,  whose  burial-place  is  here.  On  either  side  is  a 
Pope,  one  being  Pope  Honorius,  who  restored  the  church,  and 
the  other  probably  Pope  Symmachus,  who  had  previously  repaired 
it.  All  three  figures  are  rigid  and  lifeless.  Life,  indeed,  was 
scarcely  any  longer  to  be  found  in  Roman  art.  The  figures  are 
in  reality  of  a  Byzantine  stamp,  and  display  the  defects  rather 

1  Text  in  Anal,  row.,  I,  100,  157,  with  photograph,  PI.  3,  n.  4. 

2  Text  in  Duchesne,  Liber  pont.,  1,  325.  The  verses,  amongst  other  things,  com- 
pare the  colours  of  the  new  mosaic  to  those  of  the  dawn. 


2 so  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.488 


than  the  beauties  of  that  style.  Gazing  at  them  we  see  how 
the  spirit  and  style  of  New  Rome,  since  the  re-establishment  of 
Byzantine  rule,  had  become  acclimatised  in  the  City  on  the 
Tiber.  It  certainly  was  not  the  art  of  the  church  of  St. 
Sophia  in  Constantinople  which  was  now  beginning  to  hold 
sway  in  Rome,  but  merely  a  debased  imitation.  The  figures 
are  Byzantine,  but  as  devoid  of  life  as  the  high-sounding 
inscription  is  of  sense. 

The  figure  of  the  Saint  in  particular  agrees  not  at  all  with  the 
traditional  picture  of  this  girl-martyr.  She  is  here  depicted  as 
an  elderly  person,  lean,  formal,  and  decked  out  in  a  superfluity 
of  precious  robes  and  pearls.  The  customary  crown  is  being 
brought  down  to  her  by  a  hand  from  above,  and  at  her  feet 
are  the  flames  and  sword,  i.e.  the  symbols  of  her  martyrdom  as 
described  by  the  tradition  then  current.1 

488-  Another  mosaic  in  St.  Lawrence's  Basilica,  completed 
not  long  before,  also  exhibits,  though  not  to  such  a  degree,  the 
stiffness  and  poverty  of  form  usual  in  Rome  during  the  Byzantine 
period.  It  may  have  been  executed  in  the  sixth  century,  under 
Pope  Pelagius  II.,  who  restored  the  church.  Christ  appears  in 
the  centre,  enthroned  upon  the  orb  ;  on  His  right  stands  Peter 
with  a  cross,  Lawrence  the  deacon  also  with  a  cross,  and  Pope 
Pelagius  II.  as  the  founder.  On  His  left  is  Paul,  Stephen  the 
deacon,  and  Hippolytus  the  martyr,  once  laid  to  rest  in  the 
adjoining  cemetery.  The  whole  group  is  framed  on  both  sides 
by  the  traditional  representation  of  the  cities  of  Jerusalem  and 
Bethlehem.  The  influence  of  debased  Byzantinism  is  particularly 
observable  in  the  figure  of  Christ.  Our  Lord's  stern,  ascetic  face 
puts  us  in  mind  of  the  features  common  among  Eastern  monks. 
A  few  reminiscences  of  the  traditional  art  of  Rome  nevertheless 
linger  in  this  work,  and  it  has  a  value  of  its  own  on  account  of  its 
transitional  character.2 

1  Coloured  illustration  in  DE  ROSSI,  Mitsaici  delle  chicsc  di  Roma,  sec.  vii.,  and  (less 
successfully)  in  GARRUCCI,  PI.  274,  and  Fontana,  Chiese  di  Roma,  6,  PI.  8. 

2  De  Rossi,  Musaici,  sec.  vi.  Garrucci,  PI.  271.  Fontana,  6,  PI.  22.  The 
inscription  of  the  mosaic  is  in  my  Anal,  rom.,  1,  119.  Regarding  the  mosaic,  Vitet 
(/oi/ma/  des  savants,  June  1863,  p.  351)  opines  that  while  the  portrait  of  Christ  is  indeed 
touched  with  Byzantine  sternness  and  asceticism,  the  figures  of  the  saints  are  neither  too 
stiff  nor  too  tall,  but  still  retain  the  marks  of  ancient  Roman  art.  De  Rossi  adds  : 
"Sarebbe  questo  adunque  un  monumento  ed  un  esemplare  della  transizione  dai  tipi 
dell'  arte  cristiana  classica  a  quelli  della  bizantina." 


111.  215. — Marble  Entablature  above  Constantine's  Columns  in 
San  Lorenzo. 

(Erected  in  the  time  of  Pelagius  II.) 


111.  216. — A,  Capital  Sculptured  under  Pelagius  II.  in  San  Lorenzo. 
B,  C,  Capitals  of  the  Time  of  Theodoric  at  San  Martino  ai  Monti. 


No.  488] 


DECLINE  OF  ART 


A  study  of  plastic  art  towards  the  close  of  the  sixth  century 
will  serve  to  emphasise  the  steady  decline  of  general  culture. 

The  decay  of  this  art,  even  more  strikingly  than  that  of 
learning,  history,  poetry,  and  language,  showed  that  it  was  hope- 
less to  await  any  return  to  the  old-world  rules.  New  problems 
had  to  be  solved,  new  forces  set  in  motion.  The  new  human 
world  in  process  of  formation  was  less  anxious  than  the  old  for 
the  gifts  of  outward  culture,  and  was  content  with  a  much  more 
elementary  education.  It  behoved  man  to  think  more  of  the 
immediate  remedies  for  spiritual  destitution  and  for  earthly 
suffering  than  of  aesthetic  satisfaction.  Deep  learning  was  of 
little  use  to  rough,  untutored  minds,  and  before  all  else  it  was 
necessary  to  mitigate  the  distress  beneath  which  the  masses 
groaned.  Style  and  melodious  language  might  well  be  neglected 
when  the  pressing  task  was  to  save  morality  and  virtue  from 
extinction  in  the  older  race  and  to  implant  them  amongst  the 
half-savage  newcomers. 

To  observe  the  last  efforts  of  plastic  art  we  must  betake 
ourselves  to  the  Basilica  of  St.  Lawrence  on  the  Via  Tiburtina, 
and  examine  the  other  works  of  Pelagius  II.  Besides  the  mosaic 
already  described,  the  restoration  of  the  second  church,  viz.  of  that 
lying  to  the  rear  and  containing  some  notable  sculpture,  was  due 
to  this  Pope. 

During  the  fifth  century  Roman  sculpture  could  still  rise  to 
the  artistic  perfection  and  grandeur  seen  on  the  carved  doors  of 
Sta.  Sabina  and  on  so  many  of  the  sarcophagi.  In  the  sixth 
century  it  is  otherwise  ;  sculptured  figures  are  no  longer  produced, 
and  even  decorative  sculpture  has  deteriorated  and  been  reduced 
to  borrowing  beautiful  fragments  of  antiquity,  as  we  may  see  for 
ourselves  in  San  Lorenzo. 

Under  Pelagius  II.  the  broad  frieze  of  ancient  marble  was 
placed  above  the  fine  columns  of  the  lower  Constantinian  building 
(111.  215).1  This  in  turn  supports  the  row  of  smaller  pillars  forming 
the  gallery,  which  was  added  at  that  time  above  the  side-aisles 

1  From  Lanciani,  Pagan  and  Christian  Rome,  p.  135.  The  columns  of  Constan- 
tine's  edifice,  with  capitals,  all  alike  of  the  Corinthian  order,  seem  to  rise  from  the 
depths,  being  partly  concealed  by  the  mediaeval  marble  seats  for  the  choir.  The  last 
column  on  the  right  supports  a  richly  worked  ancient  capital,  which,  like  that  facing-  it 
on  the  other  side  of  the  nave,  was  added  by  Pelagius  II.  The  marble  parapet  of  the 
gallery  is  modern  work.  The  decline  of  art  in  the  age  of  Pelagius  II.  is  evinced  by  the 
coarseness  of  the  imposts  which  bear  the  arches  no  less  than  by  the  arrangement  of  the 
entablature  below. 


252 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  488 


and  the  porch  to  the  old  Basilica.  The  ancient,  richly-decorated 
fragments  used  in  this  restoration  were  put  together  haphazard, 
and  with  no  regard  for  harmony.  No  sculptor  ventured  to  try  his 
hand  at  arranging  the  different  parts  and  completing  what  was 
deficient.  Rome  seems  to  have  no  longer  possessed  a  master 
capable  of  performing  even  so  light  a  task.1 

The  columns  standing  nearest  to  the  mosaic  of  Pelagius  II. 
were  most  probably  also  added  by  this  Pope,  and  furnished  with 
the  grand  classical  capitals  ornamented  with  martial  emblems 


111.  217. — Plinth  of  two  Columns  erected  by  Pelagius  II.  in  San  Lorenzo. 

Sketched  by  Mazzanti. 

which  contrast  so  sadly  with  the  real  work  of  the  sixth-century 
sculptors.  The  only  parts  belonging  to  the  latter  are  the 
Byzantine  widely-projecting  imposts  with  Greek  crosses  on  the 
Corinthian  pillars  of  the  gallery  ;  two  capitals  in  the  Corinthian 
style  of  Byzantium  (111.  216,  A)  after  the  same  pattern  as  some 
found  at  Ravenna,  Parenzo,  and  Venice,  and  finally  the  rude 
ornaments  in  relief  upon  four  pillar  bases.  One  of  these 
bases  merely  shows  the  cross  between  two  rosettes  (111.  217); 
the  others  have  rosettes,  a  little  foliage,  figures  of  doves,  crosses 
of  the  stereotyped  form,  and,  in  two  cases,  the  alpha  and  omega 

1  Cattanf.O,  L'  architettura  in  Italia  prima  del  secolo  VI.  al  mille  circa,  p.  39  : 
"  Nella  sua  goffaggine  [la  trabeazione  di  S.  Lorenzo]  accusa  la  poverta  e  rozzezza  di  quel 
tempo,"  &c. 


No.  489] 


DECLINE  OF  ART 


253 


beneath  the  arms  of  the  cross.  These  were  sufficient  to  exhaust 
the  sculptor's  ingenuity.1 

489.  Everything  here  recalls  the  poverty  of  the  decoration  on 
the  tomb  of  Cassius  at  Narni  and  on  the  altar-tomb  of  St.  Victor 
at  Otricoli,  near  Rome,  two  monuments  to  be  dealt  with  presently 
which  belong  to  the  same  century,  and  of  which  the  artists  were 
likewise  unable  to  figure  anything  more  elaborate  than  a  cross 
and  a  few  wretched  lambs. 

No  other  sculptures  dating  from  the  Byzantine  portion  of  the 
sixth  century  are  known  in  Rome  or  the  neighbourhood,  excepting 
the  simple  work  on  the  bridge  of  Narses  over  the  Anio,  and  a  few 
equally  insignificant  ornaments  in  the  church  of  the  Apostles  and 
in  the  Basilica  of  St.  Peter.  The  work  in  San  Martino  ai  Monti 
(111.  216,  B,  C)  and  in  San  Clemente  belongs  to  the  Ostrogothic 
period.  To  the  latter  church  John  II.  bequeathed  the  handsome 
choir-screen  bearing  his  monogram,  a  work  in  which  Byzantine 
influence  is  already  apparent.2 

After  the  close  of  the  sixth  century,  sculpture,  even  of  the 
rudest  description,  becomes  increasingly  scanty  in  Rome.  The 
art,  such  as  it  was,  did  not  however  die  out  entirely,  nor  sink  as 
low  as  in  other  parts  of  Italy.  Owing  to  the  constant  demands 
made  by  the  numerous  huge  churches  of  Rome,  the  sculptor's 
art  necessarily  retained  some  spark  of  life  in  this  rallying-point  of 
religious  worship. 

The  things  on  which  the  chisel  was  chiefly  used  were  choir- 
screens  and  parapets  (transennae,  plutei),  like  those  in  San 
Clemente.  But  how  great  is  the  difference  between  such 
work  and  that  of  the  previous  ages.  The  figures  lack  indi- 
viduality and  are  no  longer  in  high  relief ;  refinement  and  truth 
to  nature  have  alike  disappeared,  and  everything  is  dull,  confused, 
faint,  and  feeble.    Acanthus  leaves  are  no  longer  found  save  on 

1  Mazzanti,  La  scultura  omamcntale  {Archivio  storico  delP  arte,  1896,  p.  52),  mentions 
some  pieces  of  sculpture  in  the  monastery  of  S.  Lorenzo  which  may  be  ascribed  to  the 
time  of  Pelagius  II.  Our  111.  216  is  taken  from  Mazzanti,  I.e.,  p.  48.  The  two  bases 
alluded  to  first  in  our  text  are  beneath  the  lower  columns,  of  which  the  capitals  do  not 
match  the  others.  The  remaining  bases  are  below  the  columns  of  the  gallery,  above  the 
ancient  porch,  where  Pius  IX.  now  lies  buried. 

2  For  the  bridge  of  Narses,  see  above,  111.  175.  The  architectural  remains  from 
the  church  of  the  (XII.)  Apostles  are  now  built  into  the  atrium.  See  illustrations  of 
the  fragments  from  St.  Peter's  in  Mazzanti,  p.  52.  The  capitals  from  Soracte  there 
shown,  and  ascribed  to  Gregory  the  Great,  cannot  be  proved  to  belong  to  him.  On 
John  II.,  see  present  work,  vol.  ii.  p.  274,  and  111.  155. 


254  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  490 

Corinthian  capitals,  and  though  the  latter  show  a  certain  affinity 
with  the  Byzantine  manner,  they  do  not  adopt  its  exuberant 
decoration,  but  lag  behind  the  fanciful  Eastern  designs. 

490.  How  quickly  and  to  what  a  depth  sculpture  sank  outside 
Rome  is  particularly  evident  at  Ravenna.  There,  under  Gothic 
rule,  new  churches  were  adorned  with  good  decorative  work,  and 
sarcophagi  continued  to  be  tastefully  carved  even  when  in  Rome 
the  art  had  already  declined.  In  the  Cathedral  of  Ravenna  the 
pulpit  or  ambo  of  Bishop  Agnellus  (ca.  560)  stands  as  a  proof  that, 
at  about  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  the  sculptors  there  had  not 
entirely  lost  their  inspiration.  In  the  following  years  and  in  the 
seventh  century,  it  becomes,  however,  evident  that  the  Byzantines, 
dwelling  in  a  city  incessantly  threatened  by  the  Lombards,  had  to 
devote  their  attention  to  things  other  than  sculpture. 

The  ambo  bearing  the  date  597  in  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo  is 
already  barbaric  in  character,  nor  is  that  ambo  much  better  of 
which  a  portion  is  preserved  in  the  Palazzo  Rasponi  at  Ravenna. 
The  figures  of  animals  enclosed  in  small  squares,  with  which  it  is 
adorned,  are  a  slavish  and  awkward  imitation  of  the  simple 
carvings  on  the  ambo  of  Agnellus  at  the  Cathedral.  Whereas 
the  figures  on  the  latter  work  are  at  least  clearly  outlined,  those  on 
the  ambo  of  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo  betray  utter  ignorance  of  what 
a  relief  should  be,  and  even  the  draughtsmanship  is  at  fault.  No 
one  would  be  able  to  distinguish  the  worthy  artist's  lamb  from  the 
stag,  were  not  the  latter  provided  with  a  pair  of  antlers,  while  the 
peacock  would  be  exactly  like  the  dove,  did  it  not  bear  a  crest 
upon  its  head.  Eyes,  wings,  and  feathers  are  shown  by  simple 
strokes.  Rosettes,  foliage,  and  beading  vie  with  one  another  in 
poverty  of  conception,  and,  finally,  what  can  be  said  of  the  man- 
nikins  in  the  upper  corners,  two  crippled  figures  of  Orantes, 
representing  SS.  John  and  Paul  ?1 

It  is  indeed  a  mournful  work.  These  horrid  likenesses  of  the 
two  martyrs  are  the  last  representations  of  the  human  form  in  that 
period  of  Italian  sculpture.  Even  in  Rome  itself,  the  metropolis 
of  ancient  art,  the  poor  stone-masons  were  not  equal  to  portraying 
a  human  being,  and  throughout  the  seventh  century  they  could 
produce  nothing  better  than  a  few  clumsy  animal  figures. 


1  For  the  ambo  in  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  see  Cattaneo,  p.  19. 


No.  491] 


DECLINE  OF  ART 


255 


491.  One  asks  oneself  with  anxiety,  how  low  culture  is  to 
sink  in  Italy,  its  own  classic  home? 

After  the  collapse  of  art  and  learning,  after  the  wreck  of 
ancient  culture,  amidst  barbarian  inroads  and  increasing  moral 
depravity,  who  is  to  prevent  mankind  from  rushing  headlong  into 
the  abyss  ?  The  answer  comes  from  those  very  churches  which 
contain  the  sparse,  poverty-stricken  memorials  of  that  age  of 
decay.  The  Church  is  the  sanctuary  in  which  civilisation  will  be 
saved  for  the  nations.  Amidst  all  the  onslaughts  of  savagery, 
the  Church,  divinely  founded  on  the  Rock,  safeguards  for  man- 
kind their  truest  and  most  precious  treasures.  Even  in  the 
most  awful  period  of  Western  history,  she  teaches  her  children  to 
believe  in  higher  things  and  to  hope  for  a  more  enduring  wealth. 
By  affectionate  admonition  and  severe  penance  she  held  them 
back  from  following  their  evil  desires.  Slowly  and  patiently  she 
built  up  a  new  society  of  which  God's  worship  formed  the  link 
and  power.  This  new  society  for  a  long  while  was  nourished 
intellectually  with  what  remained  of  antiquity  ;  then,  gradually, 
it  developed  a  culture  of  its  own,  without  however  ceasing  to 
admire  and  even  to  imitate  the  ancient  patterns  ;  finally  came 
the  revival  and  resurrection  of  classicism,  which,  with  the  new 
strength  borrowed  from  Christianity,  was  responsible  for  new 
aofes  of  culture. 

Whatever  was  saved  amidst  the  universal  upheaval,  was  saved 
by  the  Church,  and  whatever  was  destroyed,  was  certainly  not 
destroyed  by  her,  but  by  the  misfortunes  which  overwhelmed  the 
world  at  a  time  when  the  older  civilisation  and  the  State  had  been 
weakened  to  such  an  extent  as  to  be  powerless  either  to  resist  the 
triumphant  barbarians,  or  to  dispel  their  ignorance. 

Gaston  Boissier,  one  of  the  most  respected  members  of  the 
French  Academy,  who  devoted  his  life  to  the  study  of  the  last 
period  of  Roman  civilisation,  says  :  "  The  Church,  far  from  being  a 
source  of  injury  to  the  Empire  and  its  culture,  laid  her  saving  hand 
on  every  element  of  ancient  civilisation  in  which  life  was  not  already 
extinct.  Nothing  could  be  in  more  flagrant  contradiction  with 
history  [than  the  statement  that  the  Church  destroyed  ancient 
literature].  To  support  such  a  view  is  to  prove  one's  ignorance 
of  the  history  of  Latin  literature  under  the  Empire."  When  the 
West  was  inundated  by  floods  of  barbarians,  the  Church  gave 
signal  proof  of  her  strength.     Hers  was  the  only  harbour  in 


256 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  491 


which  the  world  could  take  refuge.  In  all  her  benevolence,  too, 
the  Church  never  ceased  to  be  guided  by  a  grand  and  far-reaching 
spiritual  plan.  This  plan  and  the  thought  of  things  eternal  she 
reckoned  of  more  importance  than  any  vain  effort  to  maintain  the 
old  Imperial  system,  or  to  devote  herself  too  exclusively  to  the 
temporal  welfare  and  worldly  culture  of  her  children.  For  this, 
who  could  blame  her  ?  As  a  matter  of  fact,  such  were  the  circum- 
stances that  "  her  advantage  coincided  with  the  advantage  of 
humanity,  and,  in  serving  her  own  peculiar  cause,  she,  at  the  same 
time,  served  that  of  mankind."  These  words  come  from  a  scholar 
whose  knowledge  of  the  period  is  undoubted,  and  whose  opinion 
is  certainly  not  biassed  in  favour  of  the  Church  either  of  the  past 
or  of  the  present.1 

1  Boissier,  La  fin  die  paganismc,  2,  pp.  376,  425  {.,  and  book  6,  ch.  3.  The  author 
deals  at  great  length  with  the  controversy  existing  even  in  the  time  of  the  Fathers  as  to 
whether  the  Church  was  the  cause  of  the  military  and  economic  decline  of  the  Empire. 
Against  the  statement  that  Christianity  had  robbed  the  army  of  its  strength,  he  quotes, 
for  instance,  St.  Augustine's  rejoinder,  viz.  that  the  Founder  of  the  Church  was  in  no 
wise  opposed  to  the  profession  of  arms  or  to  just  warfare.  Christianity  itself  chose  King 
Davidas  the  model  of  a  valiant  soldier(2,  370  ff., from  Augustine,  Epist.,  135,  138,  189; 
De  civ.  Dei,  1,21,  26).  As  for  the  economic  decline  of  the  Empire,  Boissier  says  :  "  Les 
maladies  cachees  qui  devaient  perdre  l'empire,  ont  precede  de  beaucoup  la  victoire  du 
christianisme.  II  a  eu  le  malheur  d'heriter  d'une  situation  fort  compromise,"  &c. 
(2,  p-  359)- 


CHAPTER  IV 


BISHOPS  AND  CLERGY 

492.  At  the  consecration  of  Bishops  in  Rome,  the  Pope,  accord- 
ing to  the  earliest  Sacramentaries  we  know,  was  wont  to  deliver 
a  number  of  touching  admonitory  addresses.  The  words  spoken 
on  so  solemn  an  occasion  cannot  fail  to  have  sunk  deeply  into  the 
hearts  of  the  new  pastors.  Such  admonitions  might  well  be  con- 
sidered as  golden  rules  for  the  direction  of  the  Church's  shepherds 
at  a  time  when  their  zeal  was  more  than  ever  called  for,  owing 
to  the  overthrow  of  social  order  and  the  incessant,  dangerous 
disturbance  of  the  public  peace. 

"  May  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  said  the  successor  of 
Peter,  "  inspire  the  Bishops  in  their  inner  life  and  outward  action. 
May  there  abide  in  them  the  power  of  Faith,  the  purity  of  Love, 
and  a  sincere  will  to  preserve  the  peace.  Yea,  may  their  feet 
hasten  to  carry  tidings  of  peace  to  the  world  and  bring  to  it  the 
blessings  of  Heaven.  Grant,  O  Lord,  that  they  may  become 
instruments  of  reconciliation  in  word  and  deed  and  wondrous 
signs.  May  they  use  the  power  Thou  hast  bestowed  on  them, 
not  for  their  own  sakes  but  for  edification.  .  .  .  May  they  rule 
as  faithful  servants,  as  wise  guides,  whom  Thou  hast  set  over 
Thy  family  to  give  them  meat  in  due  season,  and  to  help  all 
on  the  way  to  perfection.  May  they  labour  unremittingly, 
fervent  in  spirit,  hating  pride  and  loving  truth.  May  they 
never  prove  false  to  truth  either  through  vain  fear  or  cowardly 
sloth.  May  they  never  turn  light  into  darkness,  or  darkness  into 
light,  but  ever  call  evil  evil,  and  goodness  good.  Thou,  O  Lord, 
be  their  dignity,  their  power,  and  their  strength."  1 

Some  Prominent  Italian  Bishops 

493.  As  an  instance  of  one  who,  endowed  with  strength  from 
on  high,  carried  these  words  into  effect,  Ennodius  placed  before 


Sacramentarium  Gelasianum,  1.  i,  n.  99.   Cp.  Sacrum.  Leonianum,  Decemb.,  n.  14. 

vol.  nr.  257  r 


258  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  493 

Bishops  and  their  flocks  the  pattern  of  St.  Epiphanius  of  Pavia. 
To  him  Ennodius  devoted  an  affectionate  biography,  which 
brilliantly  describes  a  Bishop's  aim  and  duty  in  the  midst  of  a 
troubled  world.  The  biography,  for  all  its  rhetoric,  is  perfectly 
historical,  as  the  author  was  intimately  acquainted  with  Epi- 
phanius, whom  he  succeeded  in  the  See  of  Pavia.1 

He  describes  how  Epiphanius,  in  the  midst  of  the  prevailing 
distress,  entirely  sacrificed  himself  for  his  flock  ;  how  he  daunt- 
lessly  battled  with  the  nobles  for  truth,  right,  and  peace,  whilst 
on  the  poor,  for  whom  alone  he  seemed  to  care,  he  was  ever 
ready  to  bestow  spiritual  consolation  and  temporal  relief.  He 
was  even  wont  to  play  the  beggar  when  seeking  funds  for  the 
redemption  of  prisoners. 

When  there  arose  a  fear  that  Ricimer  had  secretly  allied 
himself  with  the  German  tribes  beyond  the  Alps  against  the 
Emperor  Athemius,  the  brave  and  God-fearing  pastor  was  im- 
plored to  intervene  and  avert  the  threatened  war.  His  answer 
was,  "  I  shall  not  be  false  to  the  affection  I  owe  to  my  country," 
and  his  earnest  advice  induced  Ricimer  to  make  peace  with  the 
Emperor.  The  reconciliation,  for  which  the  Bishop  paved  the 
way,  for  a  while  brought  peace  to  the  world.2 

Likewise,  for  the  sake  of  the  poor,  Epiphanius  visited  the 
Gothic  King  Theodoric  to  second  the  petition  of  the  Roman 
population  for  the  revocation  of  certain  oppressive  edicts.  The 
people,  says  Ennodius,  turned  to  the  Bishop  as  to  a  physician 
skilled  in  the  art  of  healing  the  wounds  of  the  age,  and 
he  hesitated  not  to  hasten  to  the  sovereign  with  Lawrence, 
Bishop  of  Milan,  and  to  lay  before  him  the  grievances  of  his 
subjects.3 

Encouraged  by  such  examples,  many  other  Bishops  likewise 
made  use  of  the  high  authority  with  which  they  were  invested  to 
support  the  people,  both  spiritually  and  temporally.  In  Italy, 
in  the  midst  of  the  fearful  vicissitudes  of  war,  and  the  unsettle- 
ment  of  public  affairs,  they  formed  a  power  which  could  not 
be  shaken,  and  to  which  men  in  search  of  help  never  ceased 

1  Vita  beatissimi  viri  Epiphanii  episcopi  Ticincnsis  ecclesiae  {P.L.,  LXIII.,  209  ;  ed. 
VOGEL,  Moil.  Germ,  hist.,  Auctt.  antiq.,  t.  7). 

2  "  Affectum,  quern  debeo  patriae,  non  negabo"  {P.L.,  LXIII.,  215).  Such  are  the 
Saint's  words,  who,  like  most  of  the  other  Latin  bishops,  could  combine  Roman 
patriotism  with  the  religious  duties  of  his  state. 

3  ilManu  medica publicis  consueverat  subvenire  vulticribus"  (P.L.,  LXIII.,  226). 


No.  494] 


OTRICOLI 


259 


to  turn.  Especially  those  Bishops  were  sought  after  who  en- 
joyed a  reputation  for  unselfishness  and  priestly  holiness. 

In  Central  Italy  the  most  noted  Bishops  of  the  period  were  — 
Marcellinus  of  Ancona,  Cerbonius  of  Populonia,  Probus  of  Reate, 
Boniface  and  Redemptus  of  Ferentum,  Fulgentius  of  Ocricolum, 
Cassius  of  Narnia,  Herculanus  of  Perusium,  and  Fortunatus  of 
Tudertum.  All  these  belonged  to  the  Roman  Province,  and  had 
therefore  been  consecrated  by  the  Pope  in  Rome.  Amidst  the 
greatest  hardships  they  laboured  like  true  Apostles,  thanks  to  the 
spirit  they  had  imbibed  at  the  Confession  of  St.  Peter.1 

So  highly  was  the  last-named,  Fortunatus  of  Tudertum,  revered 
by  his  flock  on  account  of  his  holy  life,  that  in  their  misfortunes 
they  were  wont  naively  to  ask  of  him  miracles.  "We  know," 
they  would  cry,  "that  thou  followest  in  the  footsteps  of  the 
Apostles ;  that  thou  cleansest  lepers  and  givest  light  to  the 
blind,  wherefore  help  us  too  !  "  When  the  Goths  quartered  in 
his  episcopal  city  gave  no  heed  to  the  Saint's  warnings,  and 
refused  to  amend  their  evil  ways,  they  were  compelled  to 
acknowledge  at  their  expense  the  power  of  his  prayer.2 

Fulgentius,  Bishop  of  Ocricolum,  by  his  influence  and  Heaven's 
intervention  in  his  behalf,  cowed  a  savage  band  of  Gothic  soldiers 
who  threatened  him.  So  great  was  his  holiness  and  such  were 
the  marvellous  things  told  of  him,  that  even  savage  King  Totila 
was  overawed.  The  King's  cruel  heart,  says  our  authority,  was 
turned,  and  he  conceived  great  veneration  for  the  saintly  man.3 

The  town  of  Ocricolum,  now  Otricoli,  lies  on  the  ancient 
Flaminian  Way. 

The  Bishropics  on  the  Via  Flaminia  and  their  Occupants 

494.  After  the  Flaminian  Way  had  left  the  City  at  the  spot 
already  described,  and  had  passed  St.  Valentine's  church,  crossing 
the  Tiber  at  the  Milvian  Bridge,  it  proceeded  to  ascend  the  river. 
After  having  left  Mount  Soracte  on  the  right,  it  recrossed  the 
Tiber  to  the  north  of  the  present  Ponte  Felice  by  a  bridge 

1  Populonia  is  destroyed,  but  the  See  remains  in  that  of  Massa  Maritima.  Ferentum, 
near  Viterbo,  has  also  passed  away.  Ocricolum  is  now  Otricoli;  Narnia  is  Narni; 
Perusium,  Perugia  ;  Tudertum,  Todi. 

2  Greg.  M.,  Dial.  1,  c.  10:  "  Scimus  quod  apostolorum  vitam  tcncs,  leprosos  mundas, 
caecos  illuminas"  &c. 

3  Greg.  M.,  Dial.  3,  c.  12  :  "  Tolilae  mens  cffcra  ad  magnam  eius  reveraitiam  con- 
vcrsa  est." 


260 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  494 


belonging  to  classic  times,  of  which  the  ruins  are  now  called  by 
the  people  the  "  piers  of  Augustus."  It  then  went  up  the  hill 
on  the  left  bank,  where  Ocricolum  sat  enthroned  upon  a  breezy- 
height,  and,  continuing  its  way  to  the  north,  it  reached  the  tribu- 
tary of  the  Tiber  called  the  Nar — the  present  Nera — and  the 
rocky  townlet  of  Narnia.  This,  like  Ocricolum,  was  a  point  of 
strategical  importance,  as  it  held  the  key  to  the  road  connecting 
Rome  with  the  north  of  Italy  and  the  country  of  Ravenna.  The  Via 
Flaminia,  after  this,  passed  by  Interamnia,  Spoletium,  Fulginium, 
Nuceria,  crossed  the  Apennines,  and  touching  Calles,  Intercisa, 
Forum  Sempronii  and  Ad  Octavum,  reached  the  Adriatic  at 
Fanum  Fortunse.1 

The  road  was  studded  with  episcopal  cities  of  considerable 
importance,  as  the  very  names  show. 

On  these  historic  sites,  amidst  the  grand  remains  of  heathenism, 
we  find  many  Christian  monuments,  witnesses  of  the  religious 
culture  and  godliness  of  earliest  times,  whilst  many  names  of 
venerated  martyrs  mark,  along  the  Flaminian  Way,  the  path  of 
the  Roman  legions  and  of  the  first  preachers  of  the  Gospel. 

In  the  matter  of  classical  remains  even  so  small  a  town  as 
Ocricolum,  during  the  excavation  carried  out  under  Pius  VI., 
yielded  the  colossal  head  of  Jupiter,  now  in  the  Vatican  Museum, 
the  finest  of  all  known  representations  of  the  god,  the  priceless, 
coloured,  tesselated  pavement  now  in  the  same  Museum,  besides 
other  treasures  of  art.  The  little  town  still  retains  its  ancient 
frheatre  and  baths.  Among  its  Christian  antiquities  is  the  remark- 
able memorial  erected  by  Bishop  Fulgentius  in  honour  of  Victor 
the  martyr.  This  is  part  of  a  marble  altar,  in  which  Fulgentius 
placed  the  body  of  the  martyr,  after  translating  it  from  its  original 
burial-place.  On  it  we  may  still  read  the  faulty  old  inscription 
("super  altarem"  &c),  and  see  the  debased  art  of  the  sixth 
century  in  the  unfortunate  lambs  standing  on  either  side  of  a 
cross.  At  Ocricolum  likewise  a  sepulchral  crypt,  still  in  existence, 
sheltered  the  bodies  of  St.  Medicus  and  other  martyrs.2 

1  The  present  names,  enumerated  as  they  stand  in  the  text  above,  are  :  Terni, 
Spoleto,  Foligno,  Nocera  Umbra,  Cagli,  Furlo  (the  famous  rock-gallery  in  the  Eastern 
Apennines),  Fossombrone,  Calcinelli,  and  Fano.  On  the  Flaminian  Way,  see  Tomas- 
SETTI,  La  Via  Flaminia. 

2  On  the  Pagan  antiquities,  see  Guardabassi,  Indice-Guida  dei  monuineiiti  delt 
I'mbria,  160  ff.  For  the  altar,  GARRUCCI,  PI.  422,  n.  3  (Illustration).  St.  Medicus,  in 
DE  ROSSI,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1871,  p.  83  ;  1880,  p.  115  ft".  BOLDETTI,  Osscrvasioni  sui 
cimitcri,  p.  587. 


No.  495] 


NARNI 


261 


The  little  town  of  Narnia,  on  the  Flaminian  Way,  besides  the 
Roman  antiquities  in  its  vicinity,  has,  in  its  cathedral,  the  narrow 
sepulchre  of  St.  Juvenal,  its  one-time  Bishop,  with  his  ancient 
sarcophagus,  and  the  burial-place  of  Cassius,  a  still  more  celebrated 
occupant  of  this  See. 

495.  Cassius  of  Narnia  adorned  the  See  of  Ocricolum  at  the 
time  of  the  Gothic  wars.  He  was  one  of  those  Bishops  sent 
forth  by  Rome,  who,  during  the  period  of  Italy's  distress,  realised 
the  Church's  ideal  of  the  pastoral  office.  He  bestowed  in  charity 
everything  he  possessed.     He  daily  celebrated  with  tears  the 


'  AB  C  B  E  F  G  H I KLM  N  ©  P  Q.1RST  YX 

111.  218. — Tombstone  of  St.  Cassius,  Eishop  of  Narni. 

Holy  Sacrifice  at  the  tomb  of  St.  Juvenal,  his  exemplary  prede- 
cessor. Gregory  the  Great  tells  how  a  sword-bearer  (spatharius) 
of  King  Totila  was  attacked  by  an  evil  spirit  in  the  camp  at 
Narnia,  and  was  exorcised  by  the  prayer  of  Cassius,  upon  which 
Totila  was  so  moved  that  he  cast  himself  on  his  knees  before  the 
saint.  Cassius  was  also  frequently  vouchsafed  an  insight  into 
the  future.  It  having  been  revealed  to  him  that  he  would  die 
on  the  feast  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  fear  caused  him  to  cease  his 
previous  custom  of  betaking  himself  on  that  day  to  the  Apostles' 
Tombs  in  Rome.  He  did  not,  however,  succeed  thereby  in  escap- 
ing death.  Pope  Gregory,  in  a  sermon  delivered  in  the  church 
of  St.  Sebastian  on  the  Appian  Way,  showed  how  what  had  been 


262 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  496 


foretold  was  fulfilled  on  the  actual  day  many  years  later,  after 
Cassius  "had  offered  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass,"  not  in  Rome, 
but  in  the  oratory  of  his  own  episcopium  at  Narnia,  and  "had 
given  our  Lord's  Body  to  the  communicants  and  the  kiss  of  peace 
to  all."  1 

The  Bishop's  tombstone,  which  is  of  great  archaeological 
interest,  may  be  seen  outside  his  chapel  in  the  cathedral  of  the 
city  (111.  218).  It  gives  the  date  of  burial  as  a.d.  558,  " pridie 
Kalendas  Iulii"  i.e.  June  30,  the  day  after  the  Feast  of  the  Apostles. 
Cassius,  in  the  first  part  of  the  epitaph,  which  he  himself  com- 
posed, states  that  he,  "  an  unworthy  prelate  raised  by  the  grace  of 
Christ,"  rests  here,  whilst  in  front  of  his  tomb  lies  Fausta,  his 
"sweetest  consort  in  life."  He  begs  visitors  to  pray  for  him  and 
for  her,  his  pious  spouse.  He  had  ceased  to  cohabit  with  Fausta 
when  promoted  to  higher  orders,  but  in  death  the  two  were  reunited. 
The  slab  bears  exactly  the  same  ornaments  as  those  on  the  altar 
remains  at  Ocricolum,  i.e.  a  cross  between  two  lambs,  all  worked 
in  relief,  whilst  below,  at  the  lower  edge,  it  displays  the  whole 
contemporary  alphabet  just  as  we  find  it  occasionally  on  other 
Christian  sepulchres,  where  it  is  always  used  with  a  mystic 
meaning.2 

Bishops  outside  Italy 

496.  Beyond  the  Italian  frontiers  the  Catholic  episcopate  was 
also  represented  by  many  holy  men,  who  laboured  in  the  spirit 
of  Rome  for  the  cause  of  morality  and  peace,  and  personally  were 
patterns  of  Christian  virtue  and  self-denial. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  fifth  and  the  beginning  of  the  sixth 
century,  Avitus,  the  famous  Bishop  of  Yienne,  a  member  of  a 
senatorial  family  from  the  country  of  the  Arverni  (Auvergne), 
with  a  broad  mind  and  a  large  heart,  prepared  the  way  for  Chris- 
tian civilisation  among  the  new  lords  of  what  was  yet  a  Roman 

1  Homil.  37,  n.  9.    Cp.  Dial.  3,  c.  6 ;  4,  c.  56. 

2  Our  111.  218  is  from  Garrucci,  PI.  393,  6,  but  we  have  added  the  alphabet  from 
EROLI,  Miscell.  stor.  A'arnese,  1  (1858),  280.  De  Rossi,  when  dealing  with  the  use  of 
the  alphabet  {Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1881,  p.  140  ff.),  fails  to  mention  this  epitaph.  The 
epitaph  of  St.  Cassius  consists  of  six  hexameters,  after  which  comes  an  extra  line  with 
the  date,  added,  of  course,  after  the  Bishop's  death.  The  sarcophagus  considered  to 
have  once  contained  St.  Juvenal,  is  certainly  in  ancient  style.  On  it  I  failed  to  find  any 
inscription.  On  the  other  hand,  inside  the  crypt  I  noticed  the  original  epitaph  of  another 
bishop,  viz.  Pancras  or  Pancratius,  dated  from  the  Consulship  of  Albinus  Junior.  The 
latter  is  in  Eroli,  I.e.  Cp.  E.  WUSCHER  Becchi,  Das  Oratoriian  des  hi.  Cassius  unci 
das  Grab  des  hi.  Juvenal  in  Nami  {Rom.  Quartalschr.,  1905,  p.  42  ff.). 


No.  496] 


GALLIC  BISHOPS 


263 


dependency.  Caesarius  of  Aries,  likewise,  by  the  power  of  his 
word  and  example,  about  this  same  time  increased  among  the 
Franks  the  respect  in  which  religion  was  held  (see  present  work, 
vol.  ii.  p.  292  ff.).  Others  who  worked  for  the  same  end  as  good 
Bishops  and  harbingers  of  civilisation  among  the  Franks  were 
Remigius  of  Remi,  Medardus  of  Noviomum,  Gregory  of  Lingones, 
Nicetius  of  Treviri,  Lupus  of  Lugdunum,  Leo  of  Senones,  Eleu- 
therius  and  Aunacharius  of  Antissiodorum,  Germanus  of  Parisii, 
Praetextatus  of  Rothomagum,  Maglorius  of  Dola,  Euphronius  of 
Turones,  and  his  successor,  Gregory,  the  historian  of  the  Franks.1 

The  last-mentioned,  Gregory  of  Tours,  died  in  594,  revered 
throughout  all  Gaul,  after  having  been  the  adviser  and  supporter 
of  King  Childebert  in  the  most  important  affairs  of  State. 
Aunacharius,  Bishop  of  Antissiodorum,  who  died,  after  a  long 
pontificate,  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century,  also  exer- 
cised great  influence  at  the  Frankish  Court,  and  made  use  of  it 
for  the  good  of  the  Church  and  people.2 

The  list  of  such  exemplary  Gallic  Bishops  might  easily  be 
lengthened.  We  shall,  however,  have  occasion  to  see  later  on 
that  there  were  also  many — far  too  many — prelates  who  were 
unequal  to  their  task.  Episcopal  elections  were  particularly  subject 
to  State  interference,  in  consequence  of  which  unworthy  men, 
with  the  support  of  ambitious  sovereigns,  found  it  comparatively 
easy  to  smuggle  themselves  into  the  sanctuary.  Moreover,  the 
numerous  temporal  cares  which  Bishops  were  necessarily  obliged 
to  assume,  both  in  Italy  and  elsewhere,  often  distracted  the 
Church's  pastors  from  their  real  duty.  On  them  alone,  or  their 
representatives,  it  often  fell  to  see  to  the  defence  of  their  city,  to 
care  for  the  poor,  to  ransom  captives,  and  even  to  insure  the 
maintenance  of  public  order,  not  to  mention  education  and  in- 
struction, for  which  they  were  responsible.  It  is  no  wonder  that 
under  such  circumstances  they  were  sometimes  deficient  in  the 
episcopal  spirit. 

Not  all  Bishops  could  so  entirely  rise  superior  to  external 
affairs  as  the  saintly  Bishop  Felix  of  Namnetes  (Nantes),  who 
was  famous  as  a  true  pastor,  as  an  educator,  and  as  a  builder  in 

1  The  names  in  the  order  of  the  text  are :  Rheims,  Noyon,  Langres,  Trier  or  Treves, 
Lyons,  Sens,  Auxerre,  Paris,  Rouen,  Dol,  and  Tours. 

2  Ebert,  in  his  Gesch.  der  Lit.  des  Abend!.,  i,  567,  has  high  praise  for  Gregory  of 
Tours. 


264 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  496 


every  sense  of  the  word.  He  not  only  made  himself  a  name  by 
erecting  ecclesiastical  structures,  but,  when  the  people's  needs 
required  it,  was  willing  to  undertake  the  construction  of  secular 
buildings.  Thus,  for  instance,  as  no  architect  was  to  be  found,  he 
himself  erected  embankments  alongside  a  river  which  often  over- 
flowed, reclaiming  for  agricultural  purposes  a  tract  which  hitherto 
had  been  barren.  The  poet  Fortunatus  describes  this  great  under- 
taking in  a  manner  which  shows  that  it  continued  the  errand 
traditions  of  old  Roman  architecture.1 

Among  the  Suevi  in  Spain,  St.  Martin,  Abbot  and  Bishop  of 
Dumium,  near  Bracara  (Braga),  laboured  energetically  to  promote 
Christian  morality  and  culture.  Among  the  Visigoths  of  Spain, 
Leander,  Bishop  of  Hispalis  (Sevilla),  and  scion  of  a  Roman 
family,  was  the  greatest  of  the  Bishops  who  played  a  prominent 
part  in  the  rise  of  Visigothic  civilisation. 

To  many  a  Bishop  whose  sphere  lay  among  the  newly-founded 
Germanic  kingdoms,  we  could  have  applied  the  description  given 
by  Paulinus  of  Nola,  at  a  rather  earlier  period,  of  St.  Niceta  in 
Dacia.  In  poetic  language  he  shows  us  this  apostolic  man  preach- 
ing amidst  the  bitter  cold  of  the  countries  bordering  the  Danube, 
melting  frozen  hearts  by  his  doctrine  and  example,  and,  by  his 
gentleness  and  firmness,  turning  the  robbers'  mountain  fastnesses 
into  abodes  of  peace-bringing  monks.  The  barbarians  were  civi- 
lised by  him  ;  they  learned  to  esteem  good  morals  and  domestic 
life,  and  the  once  silent  forests  resounded  with  the  praises  of 
Christ  intoned  "  by  Roman  breasts,"  says  Paulinus,  for  the  Dacians 
had  made  their  peace  with  Rome  on  receiving  from  it  the  price- 
less gift  of  civilisation.2 

The  Catholic  Bishops,  trained  as  they  were  under  Roman  in- 
fluences, and  representing  as  they  did  Roman  civilisation  among 
the  barbarians,  were  indeed  chiefly  responsible  for  the  bridging  of 
the  gulf  which  had  divided  the  Latins  and  the  barbarians. 

In  those  years  we  hear  much  less  of  the  scholarship  of  Bishops 

1  Fortunatus,  Carm.,  1.  3,  n.  10.    Mon.  Germ.  hist.  Auctt.  ant.,  4,  p.  62  f. 

2  Carm.  17,  ad Nicetam,  vers.  261  ff.  ;  P.L.,  LXI.,  488  : 

"  Orbis  in  muta  regione  per  te 
Barbari  discunt  rcsonare  Christum 
Corde  romano,  placidamque  casti 
Vivere  pace  m." 

Cp.  the  Vita  S.  Honorati,  c.  3,  on  the  civilising  influence  on  the  barbarians  of  the 
monks  of  Lerins. 


No.  497] 


SCRIPTURE-STUDY 


265 


and  clergy  than  of  their  efforts  to  promote- the  spiritual  and  bodily- 
welfare  of  those  confided  to  their  care.  The  education  of  the 
clergy,  especially  in  Italy,  was  the  reverse  of  ambitious.  As 
intellectual  culture  declined  in  consequence  of  the  invasions,  and 
as  one  storm  followed  the  other,  and  the  chances  of  a  renascence 
of  peaceful  learning  became  more  and  more  remote,  Bishops  and 
clergy  were  compelled  to  confide  in  the  supernatural  power  of  the 
Gospel,  in  the  force  of  simple  discourses  intelligible  to  all,  and  in 
the  example  of  sound  virtue. 

Bible'Study :  Clerical  Labourers 

497.  The  clergy  were  above  all  trained  by  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, of  which  the  living,  life-bringing  Word  never  failed  in 
the  period  of  worldly  decay.  Godliness  and  acquaintance  with 
the  Bible  had  to  compensate  for  the  learning  which  candidates 
for  ordination  lacked. 

Pope  Pelagius  I.  once  declared,  in  a  case  where  the  ordination 
of  a  deacon  to  a  bishopric  in  the  province  of  the  Roman  Church 
was  under  discussion,  that,  in  consequence  of  the  times,  the 
Church's  law  could  no  longer  be  followed  to  the  letter,  for,  not 
only  were  men  wanting  in  merit,  but  there  was  actually  a  scarcity 
of  men.  In  another  case,  he  allowed  the  Bishop  of  Centumcellae 
to  proceed  with  the  ordination  of  a  priest,  a  deacon,  and  a  sub- 
deacon,  provided  the  Bishop  was  satisfied  as  to  their  good  character 
and  freedom  from  canonical  impediments.  The  candidates  had 
been  presented  by  the  Imperial  troops  quartered  near  Centumcellae 
to  minister  to  their  spiritual  wants,  and  may  quite  possibly  have 
been  chosen  from  the  ranks  ;  at  any  rate  we  hear  not  a  word  of 
their  having  prepared  themselves  for  ordination  by  any  course  of 
study.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  Pelagius  ever  insists  on  one  condi- 
tion, minus  which  the  clergy  would  lose  its  influence,  viz.  that 
those  chosen  to  hold  high  appointments  in  the  Church  must  be 
"  firmly  rooted  in  religion,  of  good  conduct,  and  ready  to  fight  the 
Church's  foes."  1 

1  Pelagius  I.  (in  MANSI,  9,  906,  909  ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  1006)  deplores  the 
"  defectus  nostrorum  temporuin,  quibus  non  solum  merita  sed  corpora  ipsa  hoininum 
defecerunt?  His  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Centumcellae,  Mansi,  9,  736 ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr., 
n.  1002.  Cp.  Neues  Archiv,  5  (1880),  548,  n.  30,  where,  however,  the  Regest  is  not  clear. 
Pelagius  I.,  on  the  requisite  character,  "fixus  in  religionc  ct  bonus  in  moribus  et  i?i  rests- 
tendo  advcrsariis  cfficax."  To  Agnellus,  Bishop  of  Ravenna,  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  1009. 
Collect.  Brit,  ep.,  37. 


266 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  498 


At  a  somewhat  later  date,  among  the  requisites  demanded  of 
the  candidate  to  a  bishopric  was  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
Psalms.  Any  one  not  knowing  the  Psalms  by  heart  was  refused 
consecration.  In  doubtful  cases  the  candidate  was  to  undergo 
an  examination,  that  it  might  be  ascertained  how  many  Psalms  he 
had  failed  to  learn  by  rote.1 

In  the  West  the  Council  of  Toledo  in  653,  by  special  decree, 
made  obligatory  on  the  clergy  the  committal  to  memory  of  the 
Psalms,  and  in  the  East  the  Second  Council  of  Nicaea  in  787 
imposed  it  as  a  condition  for  elevation  to  the  episcopate.2 

Such  legislation  is  partly  explained  by  the  fact  that  in  the 
Church's  canonical  hours  the  Psalms  were  usually  chanted  or 
said  from  memory,  and  formed  the  main  part  of  the  official  prayers 
recited  by  clergy  and  monks.  Any  one  not  setting  due  value  on 
the  Psalms,  or  neglecting  to  learn  them,  was  presumed  to  have  no 
love  for  the  Church's  services  or  for  Holy  Scripture. 

498.  He  who  will  preach  the  Word  of  God,  said  one  of  the 
greatest  men  of  that  period,  must  take  his  arguments  from  the 
pages  of  Holy  Writ,  and  rely  upon  God's  authority  as  his  best 
support.  Christ  is  the  Door,  as  He  Himself  taught,  but  the  Old  and 
the  New  Testaments  are  two  steps  by  which  we  reach  the  Door. 
How  great  was  his  esteem  for  the  Scriptures  is  apparent  from  the 
following  words  of  the  same  author :  "  The  Holy  Ghost  must  be 
deemed  the  inspirer  of  this  book  [he  is  speaking  particularly  of 
the  Book  of  Job]  for  He  Himself  may  be  considered  the  writer  of 
all  He  dictated.  Holy  Writ  is  verily  an  epistle  of  the  Almighty 
to  His  creatures.  It  is  as  bread,  strengthening  the  soul  for  good 
work.  Its  study  refreshes  the  mind,  gives  patience  to  the  soul, 
enlightens  us  with  truth,  and  moves  us  to  tears  of  penitence." 
What  Gregory  the  Great  expressed  in  such  pregnant  words  was 
fully  acknowledged  by  the  Middle  Ages,  of  which  he  was  the 
revered  master.  Far  from  despising  the  Bible,  the  best  and 
finest  minds  amongst  the  clergy,  both  secular  and  regular,  had  for 
Holy  Writ  the  same  esteem  as  Gregory.3 

1  GREGOR.  M.,  Registrum,  5,  n.  51  (Maur.,  5,  n.  48)  ;  14,  n.  11  :  " de  rustico  diacono, 
quant os  psahnos  minus  teneat,  perscrutandum  est.'' 

2  Cone.  Tolet.,  can.  8  ;  Mansi,  10,  1206.    Cone.  Nicaen.  II,  can.  2;  Mansi,  13,  748. 

3  GREGOR.  M.,  Moral.,  18,  c.  26,  n.  39  :  "causarum  origines  a  sacris  paginis  sumat," 
&c.  In  Ez.,  I.  2,  horn.  3,  n.  1  ft",  on  the  steps  to  the  door.  Praef.  ad  Moral.,  n.  2  : 
"  Auctor  libri  {lob)  Spiritus  Sanetus  fideliter  credatur.  Ipse  igitur  haee  scripsit  qui 
seribenda  dictavit,"  &c.    Registrum,  5,  n.  46  (4,  n.  31),  ad  Theodorum  medicum:  "Quid 


No.  498] 


SCRIPTURE-STUDY 


267 


The  narratives  and  teachings  of  Holy  Writ  were  so  generally 
known  towards  the  end  of  the  early  Christian  period,  that  writers 
like  Arator,  for  instance,  in  his  poetical  works,  took  it  for  granted 
that  their  readers  were  conversant  with  the  whole  Bible,  and  never 
paused  to  explain  their  own  allusions  to  stories  or  passages  from 
it.  The  poems  of  Sedulius,  with  their  Scriptural  allusions,  could 
not  be  understood  save  by  one  well  acquainted  with  the  Gospels. 

Educated  people  of  the  world  were  also  wont  to  prefer  the 
reading  of  Scripture,  seeking  in  it  spiritual  recreation  and  refresh- 
ment. A  well-known  physician  at  the  Byzantine  Court  was 
exhorted  by  Pope  Gregory  to  acquire  this  habit,  as  also  were  two 
ladies  of  high  rank,  in  the  latter  case  that  they  might  learn  how  to 
conduct  themselves  in  married  life,  and  how  to  regulate  their  homes 
in  a  Christian  manner.1 

In  Rome  there  lived  a  pious  mendicant,  named  Servulus,  well 
known  to  all  who  attended  the  Basilica  of  St.  Clement,  as  he  was 
accustomed  to  lie  upon  his  sick-bed  in  the  atrium  begging  alms 
of  those  who  entered.  With  the  money  given  him  he  had  bought 
codices  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  in  the  contents  of  which  he  was 
well  versed,  as,  at  his  wish,  they  were  constantly  being  read  aloud 
to  him.2 

In  the  province  of  Valeria,  not  far  from  Rome,  Equitius,  the 
saintly  founder  of  a  monastery,  went  to  and  fro  upon  his  mule, 
preaching  everywhere.  To  his  belt  on  either  side  werefitted  leathern 
pockets,  in  which  he  carried  the  Scriptures,  for  he  was  accustomed 
to  entertain  his  hearers  wherever  he  went  with  stories  from  Holy 
Writ.  It  is  on  record  how,  when  he  was  Abbot,  he  would  inter- 
rupt his  reading,  in  order  to  make  himself  useful  on  the  hayfield 
or  at  other  agricultural  pursuits,  leaving  at  home  such  of  his  monks 
as  were  skilled  in  calligraphy  {autiquarii),  to  increase  the  number 
of  books,  particularly  of  copies  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.3 

This  picture  of  simple,  uncultured  Equitius,  an  Abbot  who 
enjoyed  the  reputation  of  working  miracles,  is  typical  of  those 
times.     Profound  studies  have  been  displaced  by  conscientious, 

est  scrip  turn  sacra,  nisi  quae  dam  epistola  omnipotentis  Dei  ad  creaturam  suam  ?  "  Moral., 
15,  c.  13,  n.  16:  "pants."  hi  Ez.,  1.  1,  hom.  7,  n.  11  ff. :  "ad  pocnitcntiae  lamenta  com- 
Pungit,"  &c. 

1  Greg.  M.,  Epist.  ad  Theodorum  medicum  and  Registrum,  11,  n.  59  (11,  n.  78),  ad 
Barbaram  et  Antoninam  {filias  Venantii  patricii). 

2  GREGOR.  M.,  Dial.  4,  c.  14. 

3  Gregor.  M.,  Dial.  1,  c.  4:  " super  semetipsum  sacros  codices  in  pclliccis  sacculis 
missos  dextro  laevoque  par /aba  t  latere."    Ibid.  :  " antiquarii  scribentes" 


268 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  499 


devout  reading  of  the  sacred  books,  and  the  luxury  and  leisure  of 
Pagan  life  by  rough,  self-sacrificing  work,  and  the  tedious  copying 
of  literary  treasures. 

499.  Among  the  clergy  manual  labour  was  quite  customary, 
and  still  more  so  was  this  the  case  among  the  monks.  The  clergy 
lived  amongst  the  poor,  sharing  their  toil,  while  the  monasteries 
were  not  only  refuges  for  the  indigent  in  distress,  but  also  centres 
of  work  and  industry,  setting  an  example  to  all  to  bestir  them- 
selves to  overcome  nature  and  the  desolation  which  war  had 
brought  upon  the  country  ;  in  this  wise  they  were  a  priceless 
instrument  for  improving  what  was  threatening  to  perish  entirely. 
When  the  populace  saw  with  their  own  eyes  how,  in  the  province 
of  Valeria,  Severus,  the  priest,  whom  they  revered  for  his  holiness 
and  about  whom  we  are  told  in  Gregory's  Dialogues,  conde- 
scended to  plant  the  vineyards,  or  how  Quadragesimus,  the  sub- 
deacon,  pastured  his  flocks  of  sheep,  they  could  not  fail  to  learn  a 
lesson  and  to  esteem  the  more  the  humble  toil  of  the  countryman.1 

Paganism,  Roman  and  Greek,  in  its  prejudice,  had  cherished  a 
mistaken  contempt  for  work. 

In  heathen  times  people  had  left  agricultural  work,  the  crafts, 
and  personal  service  to  despised  slaves,  as  occupations  unworthy 
of  a  free  citizen.  Aristotle  held  that  intellectual  superiority  and 
nobility  of  mind  were  incompatible  with  personal  labour,  while 
Cicero  says  :  "  All  workmen  are  engaged  in  what  is  sordid  and  it 
is  useless  to  seek  for  nobility  in  a  workshop."  2 

When,  however,  our  Divine  Saviour  during  the  long  years  He 
spent  at  Nazareth  had  set  an  example  of  work  ;  when  the  Apostles 
and  Saints  had,  by  word  and  deed,  raised  manual  labour  to  its 
original  dignity  in  the  world,  Christianity  hallowed  and  united 
the  family  by  the  bond  of  ready  toil ;  it  comforted  and  lauded  the 
poorer  classes,  who  made  their  living  by  it,  and  it  invited  those  of 
higher  station  to  contend  in  honourable  rivalry  with  their  less 
fortunate  brethren.  In  this  manner  it  pointed  out  the  way  to  an 
improved  civilisation.  In  devoting  themselves  to  manual  labour 
the  clergy  were,  therefore,  acting  partly  from  necessity  and  partly 
from  voluntary  devotion,  seeking  thereby  to  bring  into  honour 

1  The  priest  Severus,  Greg.  M.,  Dial,  i,  c.  12.  The  subdeacon  Quadragesimus, 
ibid.,  3,  c.  17. 

2  Arist.,  Polit.,  6,  c.  2  (4),  n.  7.  Cicero,  De  officiis,  1,  c.  42:  "  Opificcs  omnes  in 
sordida  arte  versantur ;  tiec  enim  quidquam  ingenuum  potest  habere  officina." 


No.5oo]      ERRING  MONKS  AND  CLERICS  269 


among  their  contemporaries  the  principles  of  poverty  and  work 
inculcated  by  the  Gospel. 

According  to  Sozomen,  Socrates,  and  Basil  it  was  quite  usual 
in  the  East  for  the  clergy  to  earn  their  own  living  by  engaging  in 
some  handicraft,  or  by  cultivating  the  soil.  The  Fathers  taught 
that  work  was  to  be  elevated  by  higher  motives  and  by  refer- 
ring it  to  God.  Highly  cultured  men,  like  Gregory  Nazianzen, 
lauded  manual  labour  as  an  agreeable  recreation.  "  Who  will 
give  us  back  those  days,"  he  writes  to  his  friend  Basil,  "  when  we 
worked  together  from  morning  till  night  felling  timber,  building- 
walls,  planting  and  watering  trees,  and  so  tiring  ourselves  with 
wheeling  of  heavy  barrows,  that  our  hands  were  blistered  for  long 
after  ?  "  1 

It  was  just  the  same  in  the  West,  where  conciliar  decrees 
impressed  on  the  clergy  the  need  of  working,  urging  them  to  earn 
by  their  toil  at  least  a  part' of  their  sustenance.  In  the  Frankish 
Church  especially,  ministers  of  the  altar  were  noted  for  the  zealous 
way  they  laboured,  and  for  their  efforts  to  induce  the  people  to 
do  likewise.2 

Christianity,  by  furthering  in  the  West  the  principle  and  prac- 
tice of  work,  accomplished  two  things.  It  overcame  the  handed- 
down  habits  of  the  ancient  world,  which  wasted  its  strength,  both 
mental  and  physical,  in  indolence  and  pleasure.  At  the  same 
time  it  harnessed  to  useful  work  that  wild  craving  for  action 
shared  by  the  new  nations,  whose  vigour  and  inconstancy  it 
tamed,  making  them  settle  down  to  a  life  of  order  and  self- 
denial. 

Abuses  among  the  Clergy 

500.  Manual  labour  and  the  necessity  for  earning  their  own 
living  were  unavoidably  a  source  of  danger  to  the  clergy,  and  not 
seldom  a  hindrance  to  them  in  keeping  to  the  high  standard  of  life 
required  by  their  vocation.  Many  were  overcome  by  that  worldly 
spirit  with  which  they  were  thrown  into  contact,  yielded  to  the 
petty  interests  of  the  moment,  became  selfish  and  covetous  and 
oblivious  of  the  Church's  real  aim.  The  picture  of  the  clergy  of 
that  day  would  not  be  complete  did  it  not  show,  besides  the 

1  Sozom.,  H.E.,  7,  c.  27.  Socrates,  H.E.,  i,  c.  8.  Basil.,  Ep.  319.  Greg.  Naz., 
Epist.  9,  13. 

2  Cp.  Ratzinger,  Die  Volkswirtschaft  in  ihren  sittlichen  Grundlagen%%  1895,  P- 
153  ff. 


270 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  500 


better  characteristics,  also  some  of  the  symptoms  of  decay,  and 
instance  some  of  the  abuses  attested  by  contemporaries. 

If  the  clergy  has  ever  fallen  short  of  its  highest  ideals  of 
virtue,  this  was  naturally  the  case  even  more  in  such  a  period 
when  all  Italy  was  disturbed  by  deep  social  and  political  unrest. 
Plentiful  opportunity  for  evil  and  the  bad  example  set  by  others, 
let  loose  the  baser  instincts,  even  of  many  of  the  clergy. 

In  Italy,  for  instance,  as  the  letters  of  Pelagius  I.  make  clear, 
some  of  the  clergy,  infected  by  the  prevalent  spirit  of  rapine, 
purloined  the  sacred  vessels.  The  same  source  mentions  a 
cleric  who  so  far  forgot  himself  in  his  cruelty  as  to  put  out 
the  eye  of  another.  A  third  committed  the  common  crime  of 
rape.  An  irascible  abbot  of  the  monastery  of  Fundi  trounced 
the  saintly  monk  Libertinus  with  a  footstool,  and  the  unfor- 
tunate monk,  himself  a  pattern  of  meekness,  wishing  to  save 
the  abbot's  reputation,  answered  those  who  inquired  about  his 
wound,  that  he  had  struck  his  head  against  a  chair.  This  curious 
scene  was  depicted  on  the  walls  of  San  Clemente  in  Rome.1 

To  take  from  the  many  instances  of  depravity  with  which  the 
period  abounds,  one  which  has  a  certain  interest  for  the  history 
of  civilisation.  We  actually  hear  of  a  wizard  being  brought  to 
book  from  the  ranks  of  the  clergy.  In  the  time  of  Cassiodorus, 
who  himself  took  a  part  in  the  examination  and  unmasking  of  the 
gang,  certain  people  were  found  to  be  practising  the  Black  Art. 
One  of  the  ringleaders,  a  certain  Basil,  escaped  the  severe  penalty 
inflicted  by  the  Christian  State  for  such  crime,  and  became  a 
humble  monk  in  Valeria  under  the  same  Equitius  of  whom 
we  spoke  above.  He  relapsed,  however,  into  his  evil  ways, 
and  tried,  by  means  of  a  magic  draught,  to  seduce  a  nun  in 
the  neighbouring  convent.  The  nun  became  ill,  so  runs  the 
story,  and,  under  the  wizard's  influence,  declared  no  one  in  the 
world  could  cure  her  save  Basil  alone.  St.  Equitius,  however,  saw 
through  the  trick,  and  expelled  his  false  monk  from  the  cloister, 
whereupon  he  betook  himself  to  Rome  and  there  continued  his 
wicked  ways.  Finally  he  was  again  found  out,  and  put  to  death  by 
the  infuriated  Christian  populace  without  the  benefit  of  a  trial.2 

1  See  the  Register  of  the  letters  of  Pelagius  in  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  i,  125  ff.  Liber- 
tinus in  GREGOR.  M.,  Dial.  1,  c.  2.  The  picture  (which  has  unhappily  faded  since  its 
discovery)  is  mentioned  in  Mullooly,  St.  Clement,  p.  240,  and  in  Mostra  di  Roma  a 
Torino,  1884,  p.  217,  n.  313. 

2  Gregor.  M.,  Dial.  1,  c.  4.    Cp.  Cassiodor.,  Varia  4,  n.  22,  23. 


no.  soi]  CLERICAL  CONTINENCE  271 


In  spite  of  the  faults  to  be  found  among  the  clergy  and  the 
monks,  there  is  ample  justification  for  the  acknowledgment  made 
by  many  non-Catholic  and  even  anti-Christian  historians,  and 
last  of  all  by  the  French  writer  of  the  History  of  the  Roman 
Empire.  "The  clergy,"  he  says,  "on  whom  the  defence  of  both 
doctrine  and  morality  devolved,  defended  the  former,  gently,  with 
self-denial,  and,  when  the  need  arose,  with  inexorable  sternness. 
As  for  morality,  they  never  failed  to  uphold  it  even  during  the 
darkest  days  of  history."  1 

Clerical  Celibacy 

501.  In  the  law  of  celibacy  the  clergy  had,  at  one  and  the 
same  time,  a  precious  aid  to  its  efficiency  and  a  preventative 
against  excessive  worldliness.  In  the  sixth  century  this  law  was 
upheld  by  Popes,  Bishops,  and  Councils  as  absolutely  essential  to 
ecclesiastical  discipline. 

The  rule  of  continence  extended  then,  as  later,  to  Bishops, 
priests,  and  deacons,  but  not  to  the  minor  orders.  With  respect 
to  subdeacons  practice  differed.  In  Rome  they  seem  to  have 
been  early  subject  to  the  law  of  celibacy,  though,  even  here,  the 
earliest  proof  of  such  an  obligation  is  found  in  the  letters  of  Leo 
the  Great.  In  most  other  countries  of  the  West  the  law  came  to 
be  applied  to  subdeacons  only  after  the  fifth  century.2 

Towards  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  Pelagius  II.  issued  a 
stringent  admonition  to  the  subdeacons  of  Sicily,  who,  perhaps  in 
consequence  of  Greek  influences,  made  light  of  the  rule.  In  it 
he  insisted  on  their  conforming  to  Roman  custom — seeing  they 
belonged  to  the  Church-province  of  Rome.  Hence  they  were  not 
to  marry,  and  those  who  had  entered  into  wedlock  before  their 
ordination  were  to  abstain  from  marital  intercourse  with  their 
wives.  To  his  successor,  Gregory  the  Great,  this  measure 
seemed,  however,  too  severe,  and  he  accordingly  modified  it, 
ruling  that  in  future  no  Bishop  should  ordain  a  cleric  to  the 
subdiaconate  without  previously  requiring  of  him  a  promise  to 
remain  unmarried.3 

1  V.  Duruy,  Hist,  dcs  Romains,  6  (1883),  p.  192. 

2  LEO  M.,  Ep.  ad  Anastasium  Thessalonic,  n.  4  ;  MANS1,  6,  427  ;  P.L.,  LIV.,  672  ; 
Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  411.  Cp.  Bickell,  Der  Colibat  erne  apostolische  Anordnung 
{Zeitschr.  fur  kath.  Thcol.,  2  (1878),  26-65,  especially  p.  32). 

3  Pelagius  II.,  in  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  1059  ;  Gregor.  M.,  Reg.,  1,  n.  42  (1,  n.  44)  ; 
Jaffe-Ewald,  n.  11 12. 


272 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  502 


This  general,  gradual  extension  to  subdeacons  of  the  law  of 
celibacy  is  explained  by  the  increasing  part  taken  by  this  order 
in  the  service  of  the  altar,  in  consequence  of  which  it  also  came 
to  be  accounted  one  of  the  higher  orders.  In  Rome,  especially, 
subdeacons  took  an  honourable  place  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  and,  even  now,  at  the  solemn  Papal  Mass,  it  is  the  sub- 
deacon  of  the  Mass  who,  at  the  Communion,  brings  the  sacred 
host  on  a  paten  to  the  Pope  on  his  throne. 

It  was  mainly  the  close  association  of  the  higher  orders  with 
the  spotless  sacrifice  which  led  to  celibacy  being  demanded  of 
them,  the  Church's  feeling  being  that  those  dedicated  to  the 
holiest  of  all  services  should  be  raised  as  high  as  possible  above 
earthly  bonds  and  lusts.  When  countless  members  of  the  laity 
led  a  virgin  life  out  of  devotion  to  the  spotless  Lamb  they  wor- 
shipped on  the  altar,  was  it  not  fitting  that  appointed  ministers  of 
the  altar,  who  officiated  in  the  mysteries,  should  qualify  for  their 
duties  by  embracing  the  state  of  celibacy  ?  Such  a  law  can  only 
be  described  as  a  natural  outcome  of  the  spirit  of  the  Church. 
The  acceptance  of  this  obligation  was,  moreover,  a  matter  of  choice 
to  individual  Christians.  The  Church  had  no  desire  to  ordain 
any  save  those  who  felt  the  attraction  of  the  clerical  state,  of  its 
privileges  and  responsibilities  ;  from  those  who  had  no  vocation 
she  forbore  to  demand  so  great  a  renunciation. 

502.  The  existence  in  his  day  of  a  general  law  of  celibacy  for 
the  higher  orders  is  attested  by  Jerome.  His  expressions  clearly 
indicate  that  in  the  East  as  in  the  West,  in  the  Patriarchate  of 
Rome,  as  well  as  in  those  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch,  chastity 
was  imposed  on  all  clerics  in  major  orders.  "  What  is  the 
practice  of  the  Churches  of  the  East,"  he  says,  "  of  that  of 
Egypt,  and  of  the  Apostolic  See,  who  all  take  either  virgin 
priests  or  such  as  are  continent,  or  such  as,  being  married,  have 
ceased  to  be  husbands  ?  "  Such  were  Jerome's  words  against 
an  opponent  of  celibacy,  viz.  the  heretic  Vigilantius — the  first 
heretic,  in  fact,  who  ventured  to  challenge  the  law  in  question.1 

In  tracing  such  legislation  to  its  inception  we  are  carried  back 
to  the  early  days  of  the  Church.  The  deviations  we  find  are 
really  exceptions  which  prove  the  law. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  clergy  raised  no  objections  when 

1  Hieron.,  Contra  Vigilantium,  c.  2;  P.L.,  XXIII.,  341. 


no.5o3]  CLERICAL  CONTINENCE  273 

Councils  began  to  support  the  practice  by  positive  laws  to  this 
effect.  The  first  Western  Council  known  to  have  enacted  such 
a  law  was  that  of  Elvira  in  300-306,  but  it  cannot  be  argued 
that  the  practice  originated  then  or  was  introduced  by  this 
Council ;  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Council  of  Elvira  is  the  first 
one  held  in  the  West  of  which  we  possess  the  Acts.1 

Not  only  the  oldest  conciliar  Acts,  but  also  the  earliest  extant 
Papal  decretal,  presuppose  clerical  celibacy.  This  decretal  is  one 
from  Siricius  to  Himerius  of  Tarragona  sent  in  385.  It  insists 
strongly  on  the  perfect  continence  required  of  all  Bishops, 
priests,  and  deacons.  In  an  epistle  to  the  Bishops  of  Africa, 
Siricius  even  states  that  the  practice  had  been  introduced  "by 
enactment  of  the  Apostles  and  Fathers."  In  this  letter  he  makes 
known  to  his  correspondents  the  decrees  of  a  Roman  Council 
held  "near  the  relics  of  St.  Peter  the  Apostle."2 

From  this  time  onward  Papal  decretals,  such  as  those  of 
Innocent  I.  and  Leo  the  Great,  Canons  of  Councils  held  in  the 
West,  and  the  works  of  the  Fathers,  afford  "  almost  year  by  year 
an  uninterrupted  sequence  of  testimonies  to  the  existence  and 
observance  of  this  obligation.  And  when,  later  on,  priests, 
forgetful  of  honour  and  duty,  sought  in  their  madness  to  disturb 
these  venerable  restraints,  the  immortal  Gregory  VII.  came 
boldly  forward  with  the  ordinances  of  his  predecessors  and  of 
the  Western  Councils,  to  uphold  at  all  costs  the  Christian  ideal 
and  the  Church's  freedom."  3 

In  defending  the  cause  of  celibacy  he  was,  indeed,  in  a  sense 
defending  the  Church's  freedom,  for  the  independence  of  the 
Church  herself  was  in  some  respect  bound  up  with  the  moral 
independence  of  the  clergy,  and  that  exemption  from  the  fetters 
of  family  life,  from  household  cares,  and  countless  earthly  con- 
siderations which  their  unmarried  state  conferred  on  the  clergy. 

503.  The  Greeks  failed  to  retain  as  faithfully  as  the  Latins 
the  ancient  practice  of  celibacy  in  its  integrity.     Among  them 

1  Cone.  Illiberitanum,  can.  33.  Cp.  Hefele,  Coneiliengesch.,  12,  168.  BlCKELL,  ut 
supra,  p.  35. 

2  Siricius,  Ep.  ad  Himcrhun  Tarraeonensem,  Mansi,  3,  655  ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n. 
255.  Ep.  ad.  episc.  africanos  (a.D.  386,  in  Mansi,  3,  669  ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  258  : 
the  law  stands  " apostolica  et  patrum  constitutione?  The  Roman  Council  was  held 
January  6,  " ad  S.  apostoli  Petri  reliqirias" 

3  Bickell,  ibid.,  p.  27.   See  the  letter  of  Innocent  I.  to  the  Bishops  of  Bruttium,  and 
that  of  Leo  I.  to  Anastasius  of  Thessalonica. 

VOL.  III.  S 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  503 


the  relaxation  early  introduced  took  a  lasting  character.  The 
Greek  Father  Epiphanius  indeed  holds  that  continence  had  been 
ordained  by  the  Church  even  from  Apostolic  times,  but  he  also 
shows  that  in  certain  neighbourhoods  the  violation  of  the  precept 
was  already  quite  usual.  Only  in  the  case  of  Bishops  did  the 
stern,  ancient  rule  continue  to  be  observed  in  the  East,  clerics  in 
the  two  other  major  orders  gradually  securing  the  right  to  marry. 
The  so-called  Trullan  Council  of  Constantinople,  in  682,  demanded 
continence  from  priests  and  deacons  only  when  it  was  their  turn 
to  minister  at  the  altar.  Among  the  decrees  on  account  of  which 
this  Council  was  declared  invalid  by  the  Popes,  this  one  relaxing 
the  ancient  practice  was  certainly  not  the  least.1 

The  general  rule,  originally  even  in  the  East,  was  that  when  a 
candidate  for  Holy  Orders  was  already  married,  he  should,  with  his 
wife's  full  consent,  cease  from  further  marital  intercourse  with  her. 
The  wife  usually  took  a  vow  of  chastity  or  retired  into  a  convent, 
though  it  was  long  before  mere  cohabitation  came  to  be  forbidden. 
Gregory  the  Great,  whilst  ordering,  agreeably  to  the  Canons,  the 
removal  of  other  womenfolk  from  the  Bishop's  house,  expressly 
allowed  the  wife  to  remain.  Elsewhere  the  same  Pope  tells  us 
of  a  pious  presbyter  in  the  country  of  Nursia,  who  "after  his 
ordination  loved  his  '  presbytera '  as  his  sister,  yet  dreaded  her  as 
a  foe,  and  therefore  always  treated  her  with  modest  caution." 
His  meaning  is  that  the  good  priest,  in  consorting  with  his  wife, 
was  ever  fearful  of  being  betrayed  into  a  breach  of  his  obligations. 
According  to  St.  Jerome,  marital  intercourse  with  a  wife  wedded 
previous  to  ordination,  at  least  in  the  case  of  Bishops,  was  deemed 
a  crime  equivalent  to  adultery.  The  Church's  penalties  for  such 
a  transgression  were  by  no  means  lenient.2 

The  laws  of  the  Christian  Emperors,  at  the  Church's  request, 
were  also  made  to  serve  the  cause  of  celibacy.  It  was  felt  that 
the  help  of  the  secular  power  would  more  effectually  check  the 
offences  arising  from  human  frailty. 

1  Epiphanius,  Adv.  haer.,  c.  48  ;  P.G.,  XLI.,  868,  c.  59,  1024.  Expos,  fidei  cath.,  c. 
21;  P.O.,  XLII.,  824.    Cone.  Trull.,  can.  13. 

2  Gregor.  M.,  Keg.,  9,  n.  110  (9,  n.  60),  to  certain  defensorcs  and  patroni :  "  Si  qui 
episcoporum,  quos  commissi  libi  patrimonii  finis  includit,  cum  mulicribus  degunt,  hoc 
omnino  compescas,  et  de  cetero  illie  eas  habitare  nullo  modo  patiaris,  execptis  iis,  quas 
sacrorum  canonum  censura  permittit,  id  est  malre,  amita,  gcrmana  et  aliis  huiusmodi, 
de  quibus  prava  non  possit  esse  suspicio.  .  .  .  Hoc  tantutn  adiecto,  ut  hi,  sicut  canonica 
decrevit  auctoritas,  uxores,  quas  caste  debent  regere,  non  relinquant."  Cp.  Reg.,  13,  n.  38 
03)  n-  35)-  On  tne  presbyter  of  Nursia,  see  Dial.  4,  c.  11.  Hieron.,  Adv.  Iovinianum, 
1,  c.  34. 


no.  5o4]         THE  ORDINATION  SERVICE  275 


One  of  the  most  emphatic  decrees  on  celibacy  belongs  to 
Justinian  I.  In  his  legislative  zeal  this  Emperor  outstripped  the 
Church,  and  refused  to  allow  a  widower  with  children  to  be 
promoted  to  a  bishopric  ;  in  practice,  however,  little  account  was 
made  of  this  new  regulation.  As  for  the  penalties,  two  recently 
discovered  Imperial  decrees  may  be  cited,  one  of  which  was 
issued  before  the  decretal  on  celibacy  of  Pope  Siricius.  Both 
order  the  offspring  of  Bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  born  after 
their  father's  ordination,  to  be  condemned  to  penal  servitude. 
These  laws  bear  the  stamp  of  the  relations  then  existing  between 
the  Church  and  the  newly  Christianised  Empire.1 

What  we  have  said  explains  the  frank  allusions  occasionally 
found  in  our  sources  to  the  promotion  to  high  dignity  in  the 
Church  of  the  sons  of  presbyters,  Bishops,  or  Popes.  Pope 
Felix  III.  is  described  as  an  ancestor  (atavus)  of  Gregory  the 
Great ;  Pope  Agapetus  as  the  son  of  Gordian,  a  Roman  presbyter  ; 
Pope  Silverius  as  the  son  of  Pope  Hormisdas ;  Theodore,  Bishop 
of  Jerusalem,  as  the  father  of  Pope  Theodore  ;  a  deacon  as  the 
husband  of  Petronia,  buried  at  S.  Paul's  ;  and  so  forth.  In  all 
these  cases  the  children  had  been  born  before  their  father's 
ordination.  The  name  of  "  presbytera,"  already  met  with  once, 
was  the  term  usually  applied  to  a  wife  married  to  a  priest  before 
his  ordination,  the  Bishop's  wife  being  "episcopa."  In  what  close 
companionship  the  husband  and  wife  often  remained  notwith- 
standing their  strict  observance  of  the  Canons  is  proved  by  the 
epitaph  of  the  saintly  Bishop  Cassius  of  Narni,  where  he  speaks 
of  his  "sweetest  consort,"  Fausta,  laid  to  rest  in  front  of  his 
own  tomb.2 

The  Ordinations 

504.  At  the  time  of  Leo  I.  no  fixed  days  had  yet  been 
appointed  in  Rome  for  the  bestowal  of  Holy  Orders,  though 

1  Justinian.,  L.,  42,  §  1,  Cod.  de  cpisc.  et  cler. :  "  Oportet  episcopum,  minime  impeditum 
affectionibus  cartialium  liberorum,  omnium  fidelium  spiritualem  esse  patrem,"  &c.  For 
the  decrees,  see  Hanel,  Berichte  fiber  die  Verhandl.  der  sacks.  Gesellschaft  dcr  Wiss.  zu 
Leipzig,  20,  1.    Bickell  (ut  supra),  p.  37. 

2  On  Felix  III.  (483-492),  whose  own  father  seems  to  have  been  a  priest  (see  present 
work,  vol.  ii.  p.  76  and  p.  m  f.),  see  Greg.  M.,  In  Evang.  horn.,  38  ;  Dial.,  4,  c.  16  ; 
Joannes  Diac,  Vita  S.  Gregorii,  1,  c.  1.  On  Pope  Agapetus  (535-536),  present  work, 
vol.  ii.  p.  276.  On  Pope  Silverius,  ibid.,  p.  281.  On  Pope  Theodore  (642-649),  Liber 
pon/.,  1,  331,  no.  125.  On  Petronia,  the  epitaph  in  San  Paolo  fuori  le  Mura :  "  Levitae 
coniunx  Petronia,  forma pudoris,"  &c,  in  de  Rossi,  Inscr.  christ.,  1, 1,  371.  On  Cassius, 
see  above,  p.  262.  The  father  of  Damasus  was  also  a  priest,  see  present  work,  vol.  i. 
p.  205. 


276 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  505 


December  was  the  usual  month  for  ordinations,  owinsf  to  its 
coming  just  before  Christmas.  In  the  Liber  pontificates  the 
account  of  the  orders  conferred  by  the  early  Popes  is  constantly 
preceded  by  the  words  "in  mense  Decembrio"  In  that  season 
the  Popes  not  only  ordained  the  priests  and  deacons  required 
in  their  own  Church  of  Rome,  but  also  consecrated  Bishops  for 
various  parts  of  Christendom  ("  episcopi  per  diversa  loca"). 

It  was  only  under  the  pontificate  of  Gelasius  that  in  Rome  the 
dates  for  conferring  orders  were  settled.  This  Pope  assigned 
for  this  purpose  the  "fasts  of  the  fourth,  seventh,  and  tenth 
months,"  and  the  first,  fourth,  or  fifth  Sunday  of  Lent  {Quadra- 
gesima). The  ceremony  began  in  the  evening  of  the  Saturday 
vigil,  the  actual  ordination  taking  place  the  following  morning 
at  the  Mass.  As  March  was  reckoned  the  first  month  of  the 
year,  the  ordinations  were  accordingly  held  in  June,  September, 
and  December,  i.e.  in  the  three  seasons,  which,  when  a  fourth  had 
been  added  in  Lent,  came  to  be  known  as  Quattuor  Tempora, 
"  Quatember,"  or  "  Ember  Days."1 

In  this  wise  the  whole  Church  was  enabled  to  take  a  part,  by 
fasting  and  prayer,  in  the  promotion  conferred  on  its  ministers. 

The  three  fasts  of  the  fourth,  seventh,  and  tenth  months 
hereby  received  an  entirely  new  significance,  and,  like  the  Lenten- 
Ember  Days,  were  henceforth  regarded  as  seasons  during  which 
penance  was  to  be  performed  in  order  to  obtain  Divine  Grace  for 
the  newly  ordained,  which  was  not  at  all  the  purpose  for  which 
the  three  more  ancient  sets  of  Ember  Days  had  been  instituted. 

505.  To  add  to  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  the  ordinations 
were  made  to  coincide  with  the  Stations,  i.e.  with  those  religious 
exercises  in  which  the  clergy  and  people  of  Rome  were  wont  to  go 
in  procession  with  the  Pope  to  some  famous  church  where  Mass  was 
sung.  The  Roman  Church  thus  stamped  the  Ordination  Service 
with  a  certain  character  of  legal  publicity,  surrounding  it  with 
formalities  in  which  the  faithful  also  had  their  share,  and  which 

1  Gelasius,  Epist.  ad  cpisc.  Lucaniae,  n.  n  ;  Thiel,  p.  368;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr., 
n.  636  :  "  quai'ti  mends  ieiunio,  septimi  ct  decimi,  sed  etiam  quadragesimalis  im'tii." 
Probst,  Die  Sacramentarien,  p.  98,  on  the  letter  of  Pope  Gelasius.  Cp.  the  epistle  of 
Pelagius  I.  in  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  995,  1002,  1015,  1017,  in  which  the  times  for  ordina- 
tion are  spoken  of.  A  deacon  who  had  been  chosen  bishop  of  the  "  ecclesia  Consili- 
nitana"  is  invited  by  him  to  attend  in  Rome  for  consecration  before  Easter,  "ut  vel 
sabbato  ipso  7ioctis  magnae post  baptismiim  valeat  ordinari.  .  .  .  Alioquin  necesse  est  eum 
usque  ad  quarti  me?isis  ieiunia  sustinere."    Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  1015. 


no.5o5]         THE  ORDINATION  SERVICE  277 


were  well  in  keeping  with  so  important  an  occasion  as  the  con- 
ferring of  orders  on  new  candidates  for  the  ministry.  The  first 
Station  held  on  the  Wednesday  in  Ember  Week  in  the  presence 
of  the  candidates  for  ordination  was  at  Sta.  Maria  Maggiore  ; 
the  second,  on  the  Friday,  was  at  the  new  church  of  the  Apostles 
SS.  Philip  and  James  (XII.  Apostles),  near  Trajan's  Forum  ;  the 
third,  finally,  on  the  Saturday,  assumed  the  form  of  a  vigil 
followed  by  the  ordination,  and  took  place  at  St.  Peter's  in  the 
Vatican.  The  choice  and  sequence  of  the  churches  is  significant. 
The  Stations  began  in  the  Esquiline  church  of  Our  Lady,  because 
this  second  cathedral  of  the  Pope  was  more  conveniently  situated 
for  the  people  than  the  distant  Lateran  where  the  Pope  resided. 
The  church  of  the  Apostles,  erected  by  Narses  as  a  memorial  of 
Byzantine  rule,  was  visited  next,  the  Popes  also  showing  their 
predilection  for  it  in  other  ways.  It  was,  however,  particularly 
appropriate  that  the  proceedings  should  close  at  the  Tomb  of  the 
Apostle,  who,  with  the  symbol  of  the  Keys,  received  from  Christ 
the  plenitude  of  spiritual  power.1 

At  Sta.  Maria  Maggiore,  the  first  Station,  soon  after  the 
beginning  of  the  liturgy,  an  ecclesiastical  notary  mounted  the 
ambo  and  announced  where  the  next  Station  was  to  be  held  ;  he 
then  proceeded  to  publish  the  names  of  the  candidates  present, 
with  the  title  or  parish  to  which  each  one  belonged,  and  the 
order  to  which  he  was  to  be  promoted.  The  concluding  formula 
of  these  banns  of  ordination  ran  :  "  If  anyone  has  aught  against 
these  men,  let  him  come  forward  in  all  confidence,  and  for  the  sake 
of  God  speak  his  mind  ;  let  him,  however,  be  mindful  of  his  con- 
dition." After  a  pause,  and  in  the  absence  of  any  objection,  the 
candidates  were  called  up  one  by  one  and  led  into  the  Presby- 
terium,  where  they  took  up  positions  to  the  right  and  left  in 
the  semi-circle  of  the  apse,  remaining  there  until  the  Pope  had 
completed  his  solemn  Mass.2 

The  proclamation  of  the  names,  with  a  view  to  bringing  the 
matter  to  the  cognisance  of  all,  was  even  more  emphatic  on  the 

1  The  list  of  Stations  is  the  same  in  the  most  ancient  Sacramentaries  and  in  the 
Roman  Missal  now  in  use. 

2  Sacramcniarium  Gelasianum,  lib.  I,  n.  20  :  "  Ordo  qualiter  in  romana  sedis  aposto- 
licac  ecclesia  presbyteri,  diaconi  vel  subdiacojii  eligcndi  sint,"  On  the  antiquity  of  this 
Ordo,  see,  however,  PROBST,  SacrcuHCtitarien,  pp.  200,  246,  and  DUCHESNE,  Origines  du 
culte,  p.  337  ff-  Sufficient  attention  has  not  been  hitherto  given  to  the  description  of  the 
Roman  rite  of  ordination  in  DEUSDED1T,  Collectio  canonum,  lib.  2,  De  romano  c/cro,  no. 
91  :  De gradibus  romanae  ecclesiae.    Ed.  Maktinucci,  p.  206. 


278 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  506 


Friday  in  the  church  of  the  Apostles,  and  on  the  Saturday  in  St. 
Peter's — the  banns  on  each  occasion  being  published  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Pope,  the  City  clergy,  and  the  people.  At  the  present 
time  these  three  proclamations,  in  an  altered  form,  in  episcopal 
cities  throughout  the  world,  still  precede  the  bestowal  of  orders. 

Naturally  enough,  in  the  early  Church  as  well  as  later,  candi- 
dates were  previously  examined  in  private,  for  it  was  a  question 
of  admitting  them  to  the  most  sacred  functions  of  the  Church, 
and  to  a  position  which,  more  than  any  other,  demanded  a  pre- 
vious exemplary  life  as  a  guarantee  that  the  men  would  fit  their 
vocation.  We  find  some  traces  of  such  an  examination  in  the  so- 
called  eighth  Roman  Ordo.  The  wording  of  this  Ordo  manifestly 
dates  from  antiquity,  as  it  presupposes  the  existence  of  many 
Pagans  who  enter  the  Church  at  an  advanced  age,  and  contains 
allusions  to  that  shocking  collapse  of  public  morals,  which,  as  we 
know  from  other  sources,  marked  the  close  of  heathenism.  The 
candidates,  according  to  this  Ordo,  were  required  to  answer 
privately  on  their  oath,  whether  they  had  committed  any  of  the 
four  following  sins :  whether  they  had  ever  been  guilty  of 
sodomy,  bestiality,  or  adultery,  or  had  ever  violated  a  conse- 
crated virgin.1 

506.  The  rich  and  varied  ceremonial  of  the  Ordination  Service, 
for  the  beauty  of  its  prayers  and  the  depth  of  its  symbolism,  com- 
pares well  with  the  solemn  ceremonial  of  Baptism  when  that 
sacrament  was  administered  on  the  "Great  Night,"  i.e.  the  night 
before  Easter  Sunday.  In  the  night  of  baptism  the  new  members 
of  the  Church  were  born  in  the  waters  of  regeneration,  and  on 
that  other  night  the  Church  conferred  in  St.  Peter's  the  indelible 
character  and  grace  of  ordination  on  those  elected  to  be  members 
of  the  clergy  and  ministers  of  the  mysteries  of  God.  It  is,  how- 
ever, rather  difficult  to  describe  the  actual  ceremony  of  ordination 
at  the  period  of  which  we  are  speaking,  for  the  details  given  in 
the  Gelasian  and  Gregorian  Sacramentaries  belong  to  the  later 
period,  in  which  these  books  were  revised.  The  prayers  used  in 
the  ordination  seem,  however,  to  belong  to  an  earlier  age,  and 
even  to  have  been  in  use  under  Pope  Gelasius,  for  we  also  find 
them  in  the  same  form  in  the  so-called  Sacramentary  of  Leo  the 
Great.    Moreover,  certain  addresses  to  the  ordinandi,  which  the 

1  Ordo  VIII.,  n.  5,  P.L.,  LXXVIII.,  1001.   Duchesne,  I.e.,  p.  341. 


no.5o6]         THE  ORDINATION  SERVICE 


two  books  first  mentioned  put  into  the  Pope's  mouth,  appear  also 
in  the  so-called  "Statutes  of  the  Early  Church,"  compiled  by  St. 
Caesarius  of  Aries.1 

The  main  feature  of  the  Ordination  Service  was  the  imposition 
of  hands  upon  the  candidates  for  the  priesthood  and  the  diaconate, 
and  the  accompanying  prayer  by  the  Pope.  The  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  testify  to  the  use  of  this  ceremony  in  the  bestowal  of 
orders,  just  as  they  insist  that  those  ordained  are  to  be  chosen  as 
vicars  of  the  Apostles,  whose  work  they  must  continue. 

Even  the  anointing  with  holy  oil  of  the  hands  of  the  new 
presbyters  seems  to  have  been  introduced  in  the  West  as  early  as 
the  sixth  century,  when  it  is  found  in  Gaul;  in  the  East  the  custom 
of  anointing  goes  back  even  further.  It  was  not,  however,  till 
later  that  the  custom  arose  in  the  Western  Provinces  of  present- 
ing the  candidates  for  higher  orders  with  certain  vessels  used  at 
the  altar,  which,  being  chosen  as  symbols  of  the  power  to  be 
bestowed,  varied  according  to  the  order  conferred.  Subdeacons 
in  Rome,  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century,  simply  received 
the  chalice,  the  ordination  consisting  merely  in  this  bestowal.2 

At  the  Tomb  of  Peter  it  was  only  natural  that  the  relation 
between  the  orders  conferred,  and  the  office  of  the  Prince  of  the 
Apostles,  should  be  particularly  insisted  upon  in  the  ordination. 
According  to  some  later  rituals,  the  stoles  for  the  deacons  were 
taken  from  the  Confession  of  St.  Peter,  where  they  had  been 
hallowed  by  remaining  awhile.  Bishops  about  to  be  consecrated 
in  St.  Peter's  had  to  read  and  confirm  on  oath  their  profession 
of  faith  beside  the  altar  above  the  Apostle's  Tomb,  and  a 
copy,  with  their  signature  appended,  was  then  deposited  near 
the  Confession.3 

Bishops  were  not  consecrated  exclusively  at  the  times  men- 
tioned above,  and  rightly,  for  it  would  often  have  been  in- 
convenient for  a  candidate  who  had  come  to  Rome  to  receive 

1  For  the  consecration  prayers,  see  Probst,  I.e.,  p.  200.  For  the  Statuta  ecclesiae 
antiquae,  Probst,  ibid.,  p.  246  ;  Duchesne,  I.e.,  p.  337.  Caesarius  of  Aries  is  the  author 
or  compiler,  as  was  proved  by  Malnory,  Congres  interitat.  des  catholiques  a  Paris,  1888, 
2,  428  ff.  It  will  be  found  in  S.  Leon.  M.  Opp.,  ed.  Ballerini,  3,  653  ff.  Cp.  Mansi, 
3. 945  ff.  .  f 

2  John,  the  Roman  deacon,  says,  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century  :  "  Cuius  hie 
apud  nos  or  do  est,  ut  accepto  sacratissimo  calice  .  .  .  subdiaconus  iam  dieatur."  P.L., 
LIX.,  405. 

3  On  the  stoles,  see  Deusdedit,  I.e.  On  the  Bishops'  Profession  of  Faith,  with  the 
formula  :  "  tibi,  beate  Petre  apostole,  apostolorum  princeps,  pura  mente  et  conscientia 
optuliP    Liber  diurn.,  ed.  Sickel,  form.  83,  p.  93. 


280 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  506 


consecration  to  wait  so  long  to  the  detriment  of  his  see  or  of  the 
mission  where  he  laboured.  The  Pope  was  accordingly  accus- 
tomed to  perform  the  rite  of  consecration  on  any  Sunday  in  the 
year,  and  even  in  churches  other  than  St.  Peter's. 

The  Pope  himself  was,  however,  as  a  rule,  consecrated  in 
St.  Peter's,  for,  as  he  was  usually  chosen  from  the  ranks  of  the 
Roman  deacons  or  priests,  consecration  was  necessary  even  in 
his  case.  It  was  performed  by  the  Bishops  of  Ostia,  Portus 
Romanus,  and  Albanum.1 

That  new  bishops  generally  should  be  consecrated  by  at  least 
three  of  their  rank  was  already  a  rule  at  the  beginning  of  the 
fourth  century.  The  presence  of  several  consecrators  was  expected 
to  give  the  proceeding — which  was  one  of  the  most  essential  rites 
of  the  Church — greater  assurance  of  validity,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  mark  outwardly  its  importance.  When,  however,  the 
Pope  consecrated  a  Bishop,  it  was  a  time-honoured  practice 
attested  in  the  sixth  century  by  Fulgentius  Ferrandus,  the  deacon 
of  Carthage,  not  to  require  the  attendance  of  other  bishops.2 

The  reason  for  this  was  that  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  by  his 
very  office,  represented  in  some  sense  the  whole  body  of  the 
episcopate.3 

1  Liber  diuni.,  form.  57,  p.  46. 

2  Breviarinm,  c.  6:  "  nt  units  cpiscopus  episcopum  non  ordinet,  excepta  ecdesia 
rotnana." 

3  Duchesne,  Origines  du  culte,  p.  364. 


CHAPTER  V 


SOME  PHASES  OF  ECCLESIASTICAL  LIFE  IN  ROME 

Christian  Counterparts  of  Pagan  Festivals — The  Ember  Days 

507.  Just  as  the  Roman  outdoor  procession  on  St.  Mark's  Day, 
the  Litania  maior  of  April  25,  coincided  with  the  heathen  Robi- 
galia,  which  the  Popes  in  this  wise  endeavoured  to  supersede, 
so  other  celebrations  kept  by  the  Roman  Church  show  a  similar 
connection  with  the  religious  observances  of  heathen  times. 

Instead  of  prohibiting  with  misplaced  severity  any  observance 
by  the  faithful  of  certain  time-honoured  days,  set  apart  in  olden 
times,  the  authorities  of  the  Church  strove  to  impart  a  Christian 
character  to  the  traditional  practices  with  which  the  people  were 
familiar. 

To  the  number  of  such  festivals  which  mark  the  transition 
from  Paganism  to  Christianity  belongs  the  feast  of  the  Collection 
or  Oblation,  which  St.  Leo  the  Great  often  mentions,  a  charitable 
festival  of  which  we  hear  no  more  after  his  time.  It  may  have 
died  out  in  consequence  of  the  establishment  of  the  Roman 
deaconries  and  of  the  more  regular  distribution  of  alms.  Pope 
Leo  looked  on  it  as  a  venerable  festival  of  Christian  Rome,  and 
even  traced  it  back  to  the  time  of  the  Apostles.  In  his  homilies 
he  repeatedly  recommends  the  faithful  to  offer  on  this  day  their 
contributions  so  as  to  enable  the  authorities  of  the  Church  to 
relieve  the  distress  from  which  fellow-Christians  suffered.  Now 
this  feast  of  the  Collection  corresponded  exactly  with  the  Ltidi 
Apollinares,  which  began  on  July  5th  and  ended  on  the  13th. 
These  games  were  peculiar  in  that  they  were  financed  by  public 
subscription.  Hence,  just  as  on  this  occasion  each  visitor  was 
wont  to  sacrifice  a  little  of  his  money  for  the  amusement  of  the 
common  people,  so  the  Christians  of  Rome  seem  to  have  modified 
this  customary  donation  into  an  offering  for  the  indigent.1 

1  Cp.  Dom  Germain  Morin  in  the  Revue  Beni'd.  of  Maredsous,  1897,  p.  340.  In  what 
follows  we  have  drawn  largely  on  this  excellent  article  (pp.  337-346),  which  deals  with 
the  origin  of  the  Ember  Days.  Morin  quotes,  for  instance,  from  Leo  the  Great's  Serm., 
8-9,  the  following  passage  referring  to  the  Collection,  but  which  also  bears  on  the  origin 


282 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  508 


The  feast  of  St.  Peter's  Chair  (Nata/e  Petri  de  Cathedra) 
fell  on  February  22,  on  the  very  day  when  Pagans  kept  their 
popular  festival  of  the  "dear  relatives"  {Cara  Cognatio),  a  sort  of 
remembrance  of  the  dead  members  of  each  family.  The  latter  was 
accompanied  by  banquets  in  which  Christians  could  scarcely 
share.  We  need  only  bear  in  mind  that  Peter  was  considered 
the  father  of  the  Roman  Church,  by  means  of  whom  all  his 
followers  are  linked  together  as  by  a  family-bond,  to  under- 
stand why  the  Christians  should  have  fixed  on  this  day  for  the 
commemoration  of  the  founding  of  the  Apostolic  See.  Tradition 
was  indeed  silent  as  to  the  day  when  Peter  established  his  See, 
but  as  his  death  was  solemnised  (June  29),  there  was  a  certain 
fitness  in  celebrating  also  the  assumption  of  his  Roman  office, 
particularly  as  it  was  usual  to  observe  the  birthday  (Natalis)  of 
Bishops  as  well  as  their  death  {Deftositio).1 

508.  It  would  also  seem  that  Christmas  Day,  solemnised  on 
December  25th,  has  some  connection  with  a  feast  of  the  heathen 
Calendar.  Though  the  actual  day  of  Christ's  birth  was  not 
vouched  for  by  any  certain  tradition,  and  though  the  East  kept 
the  Epiphany  on  January  6th  as  the  feast  of  the  Christ's  entrance 
into  the  world,  Rome,  from  the  end  of  the  third  century,  preferred 
to  keep  the  commemoration  on  the  day  on  which  the  winter 
solstice  fell,  and  on  which  the  festival  of  Sol  Novus  was  cele- 
brated according  to  the  Roman  Calendar.  In  the  Philocalian  list, 
December  25th  is  given  as  Natalis  Invicti ;  i.e.  the  birthday  of 
the  invincible  Sun-God,  whilst  according  to  Mithraic  practice — 
and,  as  we  know,  Mithra-worship  loomed  large  in  the  heathen 
world  of  the  third  and  fourth  century — December  25th  marked 
the  commencement  of  the  Salvation  brought  by  Mithra,  the 
Sun-God. 

It  is  therefore  no  great  wonder  that,  in  the  endeavour  to 
Christianise  the  heathen  festivals,  this  same  day  was  set  apart 
for  the  celebration  of  the  rise  of  the  Sun  of  the  world,  i.e.  Christ. 
We  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  day  of  His  death  was  known 

of  the  festivals  to  be  described  :  " Nam  illi  beatissimi  discipuli  veritatis  hoc  divinitus 
inspirati  commendavere  doctrina,  ut  quotiens  caccitas  paganorum  superstitionibus  suis 
esset  instantior,  tunc  praecipue  potulus  Dei  orationibns  et  operibus  pictatis  instaret.  .  .  . 
Ut  quia  in  hoc  tempore  gentilis  quondam  populus  superstitiosius  daemonibus  serviebat, 
contra  pro/anas  hostias  impiomm  sacratissima  nostrarum  celebraretur  oblatio." 

1  Duchesne,  Origines  die  culte,  p.  266  f.  Kellner,  Heortology,  a  Hist,  of  the 
Christian  Festivals,  p.  301  ft". 


no.  5o9]  THE  EMBER  DAYS  283 

approximately  (this  being  generally  believed  to  have  occurred  on 
March  25th),  and  as  He  was  also  believed  to  have  lived  exactly 
thirty-three  years,  the  anniversary  of  His  conception  was  made 
to  coincide  with  the  day  of  His  crucifixion,  and  His  birth  was 
placed  nine  months  later,  i.e.  on  December  25th.  This,  at  least, 
in  the  most  probable  explanation  why  the  Philocalian  calendar, 
compiled  in  Rome  in  336,  should  give  December  25th  as  the  date  of 
Christ's  birth,  and  why  the  contemporary  Depositio  Episcoporum, 
giving  the  anniversaries  of  the  bishops,  should  make  the  eccle- 
siastical year  commence  between  December  8th  and  the  27th  of 
the  same  month.1 


509.  We  meet  with  a  yet  more  striking  coincidence  of  Chris- 
tian and  Pagan  festivals  in  the  three  Ember  Weeks.  At  first,  the 
Roman  Church  kept  these  seasons — which  when  a  fourth  had  been 
added  came  to  be  known  as  Quattuor  Temp  or  a — only  three  times 
in  the  year,  viz.  in  the  fourth,  seventh,  and  tenth  months, 
according  to  ancient  reckoning,  i.e.  in  June,  September,  and 
December.  It  was  at  these  same  times  that  the  heathen  set  aside 
certain  days  {Feriae)  for  the  purpose  of  invoking  the  blessing  of 
the  gods  on  the  fruits  of  the  fields.  At  the  beginning  of  summer 
the  prayers  were  for  the  harvest ;  in  the  autumn  for  the  vintage, 
and  in  winter  for  the  freshly-sown  seed.  It  is  curious  to  note 
how,  even  now,  the  Scripture-readings  for  the  Ember-Day 
services  contain  allusions  to  the  agricultural  seasons.  From  this 
alone  we  may  reasonably  conjecture  that  the  Christian  Ember- 
Day  services  are  a  continuation  of  the  custom  prevailing  in 
heathen  times,  and  that  the  triple  fast  observed  in  each  Ember 
Week,  and  also  the  station-processions,  were  originally  intro- 
duced to  implore  God's  blessing  on  the  harvest  and  vintage.2 

To  show  this  still  more  clearly  we  may  point  out  that,  of  the 
three  Pagan  Feriae,  the  Feriae  Messis  fell  in  June  or  soon  after, 
according  to  the  situation  of  the  locality  and  the  nature  of  the 
harvest ;  the  Feriae  Vindemia/es  occurred  between  August  1 9th, 
the  festival  of  the  Vinalia,  and  the  September  equinox ;  finally 
the  Feriae  Sementinae,  the  most  important  of  the  three,  fell  in  the 
week  before  the  winter  solstice.     The  precise  date  of  the  last 

1  Morin,  I.e.,  p.  340.  Cp.  Duchesne,  I.e.,  p.  247  ff.,  and  Kellner,  op.  cit.,  p.  151. 

2  Morin,  I.e.,  p.  341  ff.  On  the  heathen  Feriae,  see  C.  Jullian  in  Daremberg  et 
SaGLIO,  Diet,  des  antiquite's  greeqites  et  romaines,  art.  Feriae. 


284 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[NO.  509 


was  left  to  the  decision  of  the  priests,  who  had  previously  to  make 
it  known  ;  it  is  quite  likely  that  the  same  rule  held  good  with 
regard  to  the  others  too,  about  which,  however,  we  know  less. 
At  the  Feriae  Sementinae  people  brought  their  offerings  to  Ceres 
and  Tellus  on  the  day  fixed  by  the  Pontifex.  Ovid  was  moved 
by  the  petitions  offered  on  that  day  to  sing  in  verse  the  praise  of 
peace-bringing  Ceres,  and  to  rejoice  that  the  iron  weapons  of  war 
have  been  made  into  peaceful  implements  of  husbandry.1 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  the  date  of  the  Ember  Days 
too  was  originally  not  invariable,  though  they  always  fell  in  the 
months  mentioned  above.  Later  on,  it  is  true,  an  attempt  was 
made  to  fix  them  in  certain  determinate  weeks  of  the  Church's 
year,  but  even  in  683,  the  Ember  Days  of  the  fourth  month — 
subsequently  kept  always  in  Whitsun  Week — were  not  observed 
till  the  third  week  after  Pentecost,  on  June  27th.  As  the  dates 
were  movable,  the  time  appointed  had  to  be  published  by  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities  of  Rome,  just  as  it  had  been  by  the 
heathen  priests.  We  still  possess  the  formula  for  the  Denuntiatio 
ieiuniorum  qtuirti,  septimi  ct  dccimi  mens  is,  in  which  the  fasts  are 
proclaimed  for  the  Wednesday  and  Friday,  and  for  the  Saturday 
(besides  the  fast)  a  "  Vigil  at  St.  Peter's,"  i.e.  an  all-night  watch 
with  prayer  and  lessons  in  the  Vatican  Basilica.2 

Just  as  the  heathen  "Feriae"  demanded  a  certain  purification 
and  sanctification  of  all  who  took  part  in  them,  so  likewise  the 
Christian  proclamation  of  which  we  are  speaking  points  out  that 
the  "  Purity  of  fasting  sanctifies  both  body  and  soul,"  and  that 
the  wholesome  institution  of  these  days  allows  us  to  "wash  away 
by  fasting  and  almsdeeds  the  stain  of  sin  contracted  through 

1  OviD.,  Fast.,  I,  v.  597  ff. :  "Bella  diu  tenuere  viros,  era/  aptior  ensis  \  Vomere ; 
cedebat  taurus  arator  equo.  \  Sarcula  cessabant,  versique  in  pila  ligones,  \  Factaque  de 
rastri  pondere  cassis  erat.  \  Gratia  dis  domuique  tuae :  religata  cedents  j  lam  pridem 
nostra  sub  pede  bclla  iacent.  \  Sub  iuga  bos  venial,  sub  terras  semen  aratas.  \  Pax  Cererem 
nutrit, pads  alumna  Ceres" 

2  For  Ember  Days  in  June  683,  see  Liber  pont.,  1,  360,  Leo  II,  n.  150,  and  note  1 1. 
Proclamation  of  the  Ember  Days,  in  the  Sacramentarium  Gelasianum,  1,  n.  82  :  Denun- 
tiatio ieiuniorum  quarti,  septimi  et  dccimi  mensis.  "  Anniversarii,  fratres  carissimi, 
ieiunii  puritatem,  qua  et  corporis  acquiritur  ct  animae  sanctitas,  nos  commonet  illius 
mensis  instaurata  devotio.  Quarta  igitur  ct  se.xta  fcria  sollicito  convenicntes  occursu, 
offcramus  Deo  spirit uale  ieiunium;  die  vero  sabbati  apud  bcatum  Petrum,  cuius  nos  inter- 
cessionibus  credimus  adiuvanaos,  sanctas  vigilias  Christiana  pietate  cclcbrcmus,  ut  per 
Jianc  institufionem  salutiferam  peccatorum  sordes.  quas  corporis  fragilitate  contraliimus, 
iciuniis  et  eleemosynis  ab/uamus,  auxiliante  Domino  nostro  Icsu  Christo,  qui  cum  Patre 
et  Spiritu  sancto  vivit  et  regnat  Deus  per  omnia  saccula  saeculorum."  Cp.  LEO  M., 
Scrm.,  78,  80,  86,  88, 89,  etc.,  where  he  says,  in  almost  identical  words  :  "  Quarta  igitur  et 
sexta  fcria  ieiunemus,  sabbato  autcm  ad  beatum  Petrum  apostolum  pariter  7,igilemus." 


no.  So9]  THE  EMBER  DAYS  285 

human  frailty."  Nevertheless  that  these  days  were  seasons  of 
prayer  for  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  as  already  stated,  is  clear  enough 
from  the  tenor  of  the  lessons  and  prayers  recited  in  ancient 
times  upon  these  occasions.  The  Liturgy  of  the  Ember  Days  of 
December  implored,  for  instance,  that  the  seed  confided  to  the 
earth  might  grow  up  for  the  earthly  welfare  of  the  people.  At 
the  same  time  in  view,  of  the  approaching  festival  of  Christmas, 
the  Church  recalls  the  thoughts  of  those  assembled  to  the  true 
seed-corn,  which  is  Christ,  and  thus  infuses  a  spiritual  element 
derived  from  Christianity  into  the  traditional  old-time  festival. 
"  The  Divine  Seed  descends,"  says  the  Preface  in  the  Leonine 
Sacramentary,  "and  whereas  the  fruits  of  the  field  support  our 
earthly  life,  this  seed  from  on  high  gives  our  soul  the  Food  of 
Immortality.  The  earth  has  yielded  its  corn,  wine,  and  oil,  and 
now  the  ineffable  birth  approaches  of  Him  who  through  His 
mercy  bestows  the  Bread  of  Life  on  the  sons  of  God."  These 
words  enable  us  better  to  understand  why  in  those  days  the 
Liturgy  repeatedly  exclaims,  with  the  Prophet  Isaias,  "  Drop 
down  dew,  ye  heavens,  from  above,  and  let  the  clouds  rain  the 
Just :  let  the  earth  be  opened,  and  bud  forth  a  Saviour."  1 

To  this  day  we  read,  in  the  Mass  for  the  Ember  Wednesday 
before  Christmas,  a  passage  from  Isaias  which  forms  the  counter- 
part of  the  praises  of  peaceful  Ceres  sung  by  Ovid :  "  They  shall 
turn  their  swords  into  ploughshares,  and  their  spears  into  sickles ; 
nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation,  neither  shall  they  be 
exercised  any  more  to  war."  The  lesson  on  the  Ember  Friday 
after  Pentecost  refers  more  directly  to  the  harvest,  and  relates  how 
God  promised  the  Jews  that  their  "  floors  shall  be  filled  with 
wheat"  and  their  "presses  shall  overflow  with  wine  and  oil."2 

Leo  the  Great,  speaking  at  a  time  when  the  Ember  Days  had 
not,  as  yet,  come  to  be  considered  merely  as  ordination  days  for 
the  Roman  clergy,  points  out  their  close  connection  with  the 
harvest.  "  Just  as  we  are  grateful  to  the  Lord,"  he  says  in  a 
homily  preached  during  the  Ember  Days  of  the  tenth  month, 
"  for  the  hope  of  happiness  to  which  we  look  forward,  and  for 

1  Sacratncntar.  Gelas.,  2,  n.  85  :  "  Nec  est  nobis  seminutn  despcranda  fccimditas,  cum 
pro  supplicatio?iibus  nostris  annua  devotione  venerandus  etiam  matris  I  'irginis  fructus 
salutaris  intervenit  Christus  Dominus  noster."  The  Preface  in  the  Leonine  Sacramen- 
tary in  the  edition  of  Feltoe  (1896),  p.  117.  Cp.  in  the  Roman  Missal  the  third  Collect 
and  Post-communion  for  Ember  Saturday. 

2  Isa.  ii.  4  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  10  ff.  ;  Deut.  xxvi.  10. 


286 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  5.0 


the  better  things  for  which  He  is  preparing  us,  so  we  should 
also  praise  and  give  Him  thanks  for  the  earthly  gifts  which, 
each  year,  He  bestows  upon  us.  From  the  beginning  He  regu- 
lated the  fertility  of  the  earth,  and  fixed  unalterably  the  laws  of 
growth  for  each  seed,  that  the  kindly  providence  of  the  Creator 
might  ever  be  visible.  Everything  which  cornfields,  vineyards, 
and  olive  gardens  bring  forth  for  mankind  comes  from  the  bountiful 
goodness  of  a  merciful  God."1 

510.  An  allusion  to  the  original  association  of  the  Ember  Days 
with  petitions  for  the  fruits  of  the  earth  is  also  found  in  the  Liber 
pontificalis,  though  its  unreliable  author  gratuitously  makes  Pope 
Callistus  the  founder  of  the  celebration,  quoting  in  this  connection 
also  an  inappropriate  passage  from  the  Prophet  Zacharias  (viii. 
19),  as  if  it  had  given  rise  to  the  custom.  He  says  :  "  This  Pope 
appointed  a  Saturday  fast  three  times  in  each  year,  one  for  the 
corn,  one  for  the  wine,  and  one  for  the  oil,  agreeably  with  the 
prophecy."  One  point  worth  noting  is,  that  he  connects  the 
Ember  Days  of  December  with  the  olive  crop,  also  mentioned  in 
the  previously  quoted  homily  of  Leo  the  Great.  In  Italy  the 
olives  are,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  gathered  after  the  Ember  Days 
of  December,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  prayer  and  fasting 
at  this  season  was  to  some  extent  intended  to  secure  a  successful 
crop  of  a  fruit  so  invaluable  to  the  country.  What  is  still  more 
remarkable  is  that  the  Liber pontificalis  speaks  only  of  three  sets 
of  Ember  Days,  though,  when  it  was  written,  the  fourth  was 
already  in  existence.  It  was  in  the  fifth  century  that  the 
first  week  of  the  forty  days  of  Lent  was  added  to  the  ancient 
list  of  Ember  Days,  its  Wednesday,  Friday,  and  Saturday  being 
henceforth  reckoned  with  the  three  older  seasons,  the  four 
seasons  obtaining  for  the  institution  the  name  of  Quattuor 
Tempora.  This  increase,  which  may  have  taken  place  under 
Leo  the  Great,  is  presupposed  in  the  decree  of  Pope  Gelasius 
previously  spoken  of,  which  directed  that  the  ordinations  in 
Rome  should  take  place  on  the  Ember  Days.2 

Whether  the  introduction  of  the  Ember  Days  belongs  to  the 
third  century,  which  was  that  of  Pope  Callistus,  mentioned  by 
the  Liber  pontificalis,  or  a  still  earlier  age,  cannot  be  ascertained 

1  Leo  M.,  Serm.  5,  in  ieiunio  tnensis  decimi,  n.  1. 

2  Liber pont.,  1,  I41,  Callistus,  n.  17.    On  Gelasius,  see  above,  p.  276,  note  I. 


No.  511] 


LENT 


287 


with  any  degree  of  certainty.  Leo  the  Great  was  of  opinion  that 
the  institution  went  back  much  further.  In  one  of  his  sermons 
he  refers  it  to  "our  holy  fathers,"  and  several  times,  elsewhere, 
he  even  ascribes  it  to  the  Apostles,  though  without  bringing 
forward  any  sufficient  proof  for  this  opinion.1 

At  the  same  time,  the  observance  of  the  Ember  Days  may  be 
connected  in  some  way  with  the  weekly  fasts  on  the  Wednesdays, 
Fridays,  and  Saturdays,  which  were  customary  at  an  early  date 
in  the  Roman  Church,  in  which  case  they  might  well  date  from 
the  remotest  antiquity. 

The  Roman  Church  alone,  in  earlier  times,  was  wont  to 
observe  the  Ember  Days.  The  institution  was,  in  other  words, 
purely  local,  a  fact  which  fits  well  with  its  derivation  from  the 
pagan  Feriae  celebrated  at  Rome.  It  was  not  until  after  Pope 
Gelasius,  and  in  consequence  of  Papal  decrees  to  this  effect,  that 
the  practice  of  keeping  the  Ember  Days  and  holding  ordinations 
at  these  seasons  spread  to  other  Churches.  It  was  adopted  first 
of  all  by  the  suffragan  Bishops  of  the  Roman  Church,  and  then  in 
the  rest  of  Italy  and  elsewhere.  Finally,  the  Carlovingians,  in 
their  readiness  to  promote  Roman  usages,  naturalised  it  every- 
where, save  in  Spain  and  at  Milan. 

Other  Fasts  observed  in  Rome 

511.  With  respect  to  the  regular  Weekly  Fasts  observed  in 
the  Roman  Church,  the  Wednesday  and  Friday  fasts  are 
mentioned  even  in  the  Doctrina  Apostolorum.  The  fasts  are 
also  alluded  to  in  the  "  Shepherd  "  of  Hermas,  though  the  days 
are  not  stated,  whilst  the  Wednesday  and  Friday  are  expressly 
mentioned  by  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Tertullian,  and  others. 
The  Saturday  fast  appears  to  have  been  originally  a  mere  con- 
tinuation of  the  Friday  fast  (contimiare  ieumium,  says  Tertullian), 
customary  in  certain  localities,  though  in  Rome  it  was  soon 
made  an  independent  fast-day.    Even  in  Augustine's  time  the 

1  LEO  M.,  Serm.  16,  n.  2  :  "in  quo  sancti  patrcs  nostri  divinitus  inspirati  decimi 
mensis  sanxere  ieiunium"  Scrm.  12,  n.  4:  " apostolicis  traditionibus"  Serin.  93,  n.  3  : 
"  et  apostolicis  et  legalibus  institutionibus"  The  "  legates  uistitutioncs "  might  be  a 
Jewish  custom,  which,  as  Leo  also  explains  elsewhere,  had  been  retained  by  the  Church. 
Duchesne  {Origincs  du  culte,  p.  222),  like  Morin,  does  not  see  his  way  to  admit  any 
influence  of  the  Old  Testament  customs,  but,  instead  of  seeing  in  the  Ember  Days  an 
outcome  of  the  Pagan  Feriae,  he  thinks  it  more  likely  that  they  are  mere  relics  of  the 
ancient  weekly  fasts  practised  in  the  Roman  Church. 


288 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  512 


observance  in  Rome  of  the  three  weekly  fasts  had  fallen  off,  for 
he  speaks  of  it  merely  as  a  "frequent"  practice  of  the  Romans, 
which,  in  his  opinion,  was  no  longer  obligatory.  In  course  of 
time  it  became  the  rule  to  demand  merely  the  abstinence  from 
certain  foods  on  Fridays  and  Saturdays.1 

To  proceed,  however,  to  the  consideration  of  the  lengthy 
fast  known  as  Lent.  The  observance  of  this  fast  remained  a 
strict  law.  Though  the  custom  of  different  Churches  varied 
with  regard  to  the  forty  days'  fast  which  preceded  Easter,  the 
chief  festival  of  the  Church's  year,  yet  the  origin  of  the  great  fast 
must  go  back  to  the  Church's  infancy.  The  fifth  canon  of  the 
Nicene  Council  (325)  takes  for  granted  the  existence  and 
observance  everywhere  of  the  Easter  fast.2 

512.  The  forty  days'  fast  which  our  Saviour  was  pleased  to 
undergo  is  repeatedly  instanced  by  the  Fathers  as  the  pattern  of 
this  general  practice  of  the  Church.  This  Gregory  the  Great 
does  in  a  sermon  preached  to  the  Romans  assembled  in  the 
Lateran  Basilica  on  the  first  Sunday  in  Lent.  In  eloquent 
language,  the  Pope  points  out  the  inward  spirit  with  which  the 
fast  should  be  observed,  unless  it  is  to  become  a  mere  outward 
exercise  devoid  of  use.  After  referring  to  Moses  and  Elias,  who 
prepared  themselves  for  their  mission  by  forty  days'  abstinence 
from  food,  but  who  also  saw  in  personal  holiness  an  inseparable 
companion  of  mortification,  he  exclaims:  "Verily,  it  is  just  that 
we  should  subject  our  body  to  the  penances  of  mortification,  since 
its  lusts  have  led  us  to  transgress  God's  commandments.  .  .  . 
At  this  holy  season  let  each  one  exert  himself  to  overcome  the 
enemy  he  bears  within  him,  and  to  curb  his  unbridled  appetites. 
Let  him  seek  to  master  his  own  passions  and  his  lower  nature,  in 
doing  which  he  will  be  following  the  injunction  of  St.  Paul,  '  Pre- 
sent your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  pleasing  unto  God.'  "3 

Gregory  was  not  content  with  recommending  in  this  manner 
inward  self-renunciation  as  a  condition  of  meritorious  fasting  ;  he 

1  See  the  passages  in  Duchesne,  Origines  du  culle,  p.  218  ff.  August.,  Ep.  36 
(written  in  396-397)  :  "  vericm  ctiam  christianus,  qui  quarto,  et  sextet  feria  et  ipso  sabbato 
ieiunare  consuevit,  quod  frequenter  Romano,  plebs  facit." 

2  The  Nicene  Council  orders  (can.  5)  one  of  the  two  annual  Provincial  Councils  to  be 
held  Trpb  t9]%  Te<TcrapaKOffTrji. 

3  In  Evang.  horn.  16,  n.  6:  "Hind  ieiunium  Deus  approbat  .  .  .  quod  ex  pietate 
co?!ditur.  Hoc  e?go  quod  tibi  subtrahis,  alteri  latgire,"  &c.  Rom.  xii.  1.  On  the  homily, 
see  Pfeilschifter,  Die  autketitische  Ausgabe  der  E.vangclienhomilicn  Gregors  des 
Grossen  (1900),  p.  20. 


No.  513] 


LENT 


289 


also  impressed  upon  his  Romans  the  need  of  ennobling  their  out- 
ward mortification  by  works  of  mercy,  by  almsgiving,  and  the 
practice  of  every  virtue.  "  God  rejoices  in  every  sacrifice  of 
fasting  offered  Him  by  hands  which  are  full  of  deeds  of  charity, 
and  zealously  trained  in  works  of  brotherly  love."  "  Put  aside 
wrath  and  hatred  ;  set  a  bridle  on  your  own  will,  for  it  is  useless 
to  chastise  the  body  if  you  strive  not  against  the  faults  and  failings 
of  the  spirit." 

This  same  Pope  calls  the  great  fast  a  tithe  offered  to  God, 
though  by  this  he  does  not  mean  to  represent  it  as  a  mere  thanks- 
giving for  temporal  gifts  received  from  God.  Certain  other  days 
had  been  appointed  from  the  earliest  times  for  such  thanksgivings. 
Lent  was  more  a  time  for  recollection  and  repentance,  nor  was  it 
a  preparation  merely  for  Easter,  but  also  for  the  solemn  cele- 
bration of  the  sacrament  of  baptism  administered  on  Easter  Eve, 
and  at  which  other  Christians  were  wont  to  attend  in  memory  of 
their  own  baptism.  Catechumens  had  ever  been  required  to  fast, 
in  which  act  consisted  a  part  of  their  preparation  for  receiving  the 
sacrament  of  the  new  birth.  The  part  taken  by  the  Faithful  in 
the  proceedings  on  Holy  Saturday,  and  in  the  exercises  which 
led  up  to  them,  helped  to  quicken  the  grace  already  received  at 
baptism,  and,  in  early  times,  when  the  Church  increased  her 
ranks  at  Easter  by  the  admission  of  crowds  of  convert  Pagans, 
the  practice  was  one  imposed  even  by  the  religious  sense. 

513.  In  Rome,  during  the  sixth  century,  Lent  began,  not  on 
Ash  Wednesday,  but  on  the  following  Monday.  Such  was  the 
rule  under  Gregory  the  Great,  who,  in  the  above  sermon  preached 
at  the  beginning  of  Lent,  expressly  mentions  that,  according  to 
Roman  custom,  the  fast  days  previous  to  Easter  were  not  forty 
in  number,  but  only  thirty-six  ;  on  the  Sundays  during  Lent,  people 
did  not  abstain  from  food.  Only  in  the  seventh  century  were  four 
days  added  to  bring  the  number  up  to  forty.  Characteristically 
enough,  St.  Gregory,  comparing  36  with  365  (the  number  of 
days  in  the  year),  finds  in  the  comparison  a  proof  that  the 
thirty-six  days  of  Lent  are  indeed  the  tithe  offered  by  every 
grateful  Christian  to  the  Lord. 

Even  in  Gregory's  time  it  is  clear,  however,  that  the  three 
Sundays  preceding  Lent — Septuagesima,  Sexagesima,  and  Quin- 
quagesima — were  kept  with  great  solemnity,  stations  being  held 

VOL.  III.  t 


290 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  514 


at  the  principal  churches.  Gregory  lets  us  know  from  his  Gospel 
Homilies  both  the  places  where  these  stations  were  held  and  the 
Gospel  readings  used  at  the  Mass.  As  is  the  case  so  often  else- 
where, the  old  stations  and  lessons  for  these  days  are  the  same  as 
those  given  in  the  present  Missal.  On  Septuagesima  Sunday  the 
station-procession  went  to  the  Tomb  of  St.  Lawrence  on  the  Via 
Tiburtina,  on  Sexagesima  to  that  of  St.  Paul  on  the  Via  Ostia, 
on  Ouinquagesima  to  the  Tomb  of  St.  Peter  at  the  Vatican.  In 
an  ascending  scale,  honour  was  thus  rendered  to  the  three  saints 
on  whom  Rome  set  the  most  store.1 

The  beautiful  liturgy  of  these  three  Sundays  is  full  of  the 
Church's  appeals  for  help,  a  fact  which  shows  it  to  have  been  com- 
posed in  a  period  of  sore  distress  for  Rome.  The  Introit  of  the 
Mass  for  Septuagesima  at  once  brings  to  mind  the  days  of  public 
danger  :  "  My  heart  is  troubled  within  me,  and  the  fear  of  death 
is  fallen  upon  me.  Fear  and  trembling  are  come  upon  me.  Save 
me,  O  God  ;  for  the  waters  are  come  in  even  unto  my  soul."  If 
the  liturgy  of  this  Sunday  belongs  to  the  sixth  century,  then  our 
thoughts  stray  involuntarily  to  the  days  of  Pelagius  I.  and  John 
III.,  and  the  great  revival  of  worship  which  followed  the  misery 
of  the  Gothic  War.  Then  it  was  that  Italy  suddenly  found  her- 
self invaded  anew  by  the  barbarians,  whilst  Rome  trembled  at 
the  approach  of  the  Lombards.  It  seems  quite  likely  that  John 
III.,  who,  in  his  "love  for  the  cemeteries,"  gave  great  attention 
to  the  service  at  the  Saints'  tombs,  also  introduced  those  three 
stations  in  the  Cemetery  churches  of  St.  Lawrence,  St.  Paul, 
and  St.  Peter,  in  order  to  implore  help,  and  that  the  celebration 
became  permanent  owing  to  the  continued  presence  of  danger.2 

514.  In  Lent,  stations  were  held  on  each  week-day,  except 
Thursday,  at  one  of  the  principal  churches  of  the  City,  or  in 
some  Cemetery  Basilica  of  the  neighbourhood.  Stations  for  the 
Thursdays  were  first  introduced  by  Gregory  II.  (71 5—73 1  )•  This 
explains  why  the  Gelasian  Sacramentary  gives  no  Mass  for 
Thursdays  in  Lent,  though  it  has  a  Mass  for  every  other  day.3 

1  See  the  titles  of  Gregory  the  Great's  homilies  on  the  Gospels,  n.  2,  15,  19,  and  my 
article,  Die  Stationsfcier  unci  der  erste  rom.  Ordo,  in  the  Zeitschr.  fiir  kath.  Theol.,  9 
(1885),  particularly  the  table  on  p.  404  ff. 

*  Duchesne,  Origines  du  culte,  p.  234,  considers  that  these  three  Sundays  made 
their  appearance  only  in  the  seventh  century.  I  think  this  scarcely  compatible  with 
Gregory's  homilies,  even  if  we  reject  the  titles  as  later  additions. 

3  See  present  work,  vol.  ii.  p.  83,  on  the  Stations. 


No.  515] 


THE  LATERAN 


291 


On  some  days,  however,  the  celebration  took  place  in  the 
Papal  Cathedral,  i.e.  in  the  Lateran  Basilica,  where  all  the  clergy 
were  expected  to  gather  around  the  Pope.  The  stations  at  the 
Lateran  fell  on  the  first  Sunday  in  Lent,  on  Palm  Sunday,  on 
the  Thursday  in  Holy  Week  {Feria  V.  in  Coena  Domini),  and, 
above  all,  on  Holy  Saturday,  when  the  Vigil  of  the  "  Great 
Night "  ushered  in  the  feast  of  Easter. 

On  this  occasion  the  people  of  Rome  came  in  vast  crowds 
from  the  more  thickly  inhabited  portions  of  the  City  to  the  huge 
open  space,  the  Campus  Lateranensis  lying  south-east  of  Rome, 
where  there  stood  the  majestic  Constantinian  Basilica,  serving 
mainly  as  the  Pope's  own  church,  and  the  great  Papal  residence, 
the  Episcopium  Lateranense,  called  after  the  ancient  family  of  the 
Laterani. 

The  venerable  Lateran  Basilica,  the  "  mother  and  head  of 
the  City  and  of  the  Universe,"  as  it  was  called  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  affords  us  an  excellent  opportunity  of  studying  in  detail 
the  proceedings  in  the  larger  Basilicas,  particularly  upon  the 
greater  festivals. 

In  the  following  pages,  while  devoting  our  attention  to  the 
Lateran  Basilica,  we  shall  pass  in  review  some  of  the  old  customs 
in  vogue  among  the  Faithful  and  the  Clergy  who  visited  or  served 
the  church.1 

The  Forecourt  of  the  Papal  Cathedral 

515.  The  reader  should  endeavour  to  place  himself  in  imagina- 
tion in  the  stately  and  animated  Piazza  surrounding  the  ancient 
Lateran.  For  already  more  than  five  hundred  years  a  strange 
calm  has  overtaken  this  square.  The  huge  buildings  situated 
around  it,  especially  since  the  Popes,  towards  the  close  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  removed  their  residence  to  the  Vatican,  seem  to 
have  sunk  into  a  state  of  solemn  isolation  and  repose.  During 
the  sixth  century,  however,  and  in  the  early  Middle  Ages,  this 

1  On  the  front  of  the  church  may  still  be  read  the  restored  twelfth-century  inscription, 
written  in  old  characters,  and  beginning :  DOGMATE  PAPALI  DATVR  AC  SIMVL 
IMPERIALI  I  QVOD  SIM  CVNCTARVM  MATER  CAPVT  ECCLESIARVM. 
De  Rossi,  Inscr.  christ.,  2,  1,  pp.  306,  322,  425.  Rohault  de  Fleury,  Le  Latran  au 
moycn-d°e,  p.  468.  The  inscriptions  of  Gregory  XL,  in  1372,  and  Sixtus  IV.,  in  1475, 
which  also  still  exist,  likewise  state  that  the  Lateran  church  takes  precedence  of  all 
other  churches.  Forcella,  Iscrizioni,  8,  21,  n.  31 ;  25,  n.  42.  On  the  Lateran  residence, 
see  present  work,  vol.  i.  p.  205. 


292 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  515 


historical  site  in  Rome  could  be  lively  enough,  and  when  the 
Church's  Head  on  earth  solemnly  performed  the  Liturgy  in  the 
superb  Basilica  amidst  a  great  concourse  of  Romans  and  foreign 
pilgrims  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  clad  in  the  variegated 
vesture  of  antiquity,  no  one  could  have  failed  to  realise  that 
this  spot  was  indeed  one  of  the  greatest  sanctuaries  of  man- 
kind and  the  headquarters  of  the  hierarchy  established  by 
Christ. 

The  buildings  surrounding  the  Basilica,  even  apart  from  the 
grand  palace  of  the  Popes,  formed  almost  a  little  town.  The 
Constantinian  Basilica  towered  above  a  great  number  of  hostelries 
for  pilgrims,  oratories,  monasteries,  and  clergy-houses.  The  bap- 
tistery, with  its  portico  leading  to  the  Oratory  of  the  Cross  built 
by  Pope  Hilary,  flanked  the  western  side,  whilst  to  the  east 
the  lofty  palace  with  its  courts  and  porticoes  stretched  as  far  as 
the  Aqueducts,  which  here  entered  the  City  from  the  Roman 
Campagna ;  the  palace  extended  as  far  as  the  present  Scala 
Santa. 

The  Basilica  "of  our  Saviour,"  or  Constantinian  Basilica,  as 
it  was  called  (111.  219)1  then,  as  now,  had  two  entrances,  one 
to  the  right,  lying  nearest  for  those  who  came  from  the  City, 
and  another,  the  principal  one,  in  the  front,  where  the  great 
Atrium  formed  a  square,  enclosed  by  a  portico.  The  apse  of 
the  church  then,  as  now,  opened  towards  the  east,  and  so  the 
Pope,  when  celebrating,  faced  the  people  and  the  rising  sun. 

Approaching  the  main,  eastern  entrance,  we  would  have  noticed 
that  the  broad  staircase  leading  up  to  the  Atrium  was  full  of 
beggars  awaiting  the  charity  of  the  Faithful,  for  the  stairs  leading 
to  the  Basilicas  were  ever  a  favourite  haunt  of  the  poor.  Within 
the  Atrium,  where  beggars  again  were  a  prominent  feature,  we 

1  Rohault  DE  Fleury,  Le  Latran  an  moycji-dge,  PI.  4.  In  Fleury  this  plan  forms 
a  portion  of  that  of  the  ancient  papal  palace,  of  which  the  plan  is,  however,  much  less 
certain.  The  portion  of  the  plan  which  we  reproduce  here  also  marks  several  details 
which  are  mere  mediaeval  additions  ;  for  instance,  the  campanile  (A)  and  several 
oratories  and  passages.  The  portions  which  chiefly  interest  us  here  are  those  lettered 
as  follows :  B,  the  Cantharus  (though  originally  there  can  have  been  but  one) ;  C,  the 
porch,  with  the  Secretarium  shaped  like  an  oratory  to  the  left ;  D,  the  main  entrance  at 
the  eastern  end  of  the  church  ;  I-K,  the  pillars  and  later  columns  of  the  Triumphal 
Arch  ;  between  these  two  letters  was  the  Confessio  of  Sergius  II.  (see  p.  306) ;  L,  high 
altar,  surrounded  by  the  four  bronze  columns  of  Constantine  (see  p.  304) ;  M,  the  "  throne 
of  Pope  Silvester"  (see  p.  302) ;  near  N  was  the  entrance  used  by  those  coming  from 
the  city  ;  R,  the  later  "Leonine"  ambulatory  ;  to  the  right  of  S  belongs  the  Baptistery 
(see  present  work,  vol.  ii.,  111.  83,  an  illustration  borrowed  from  this  same  figure  of 
Rohault  de  Fleury's). 


no.  Si5]  THE  LATERAN  293 

should  have  found  the  penitents,  who,  being  excluded  from  the 
church,  implored  the  intercession  of  those  who  entered.1 

The  Faithful  pushed  their  way  through  the  crowd  of  pious 
suppliants  and  curious  visitors  to  one  of  the  spouting  fountains 
{Canthari)  in  the  centre  of  the  forecourt,  where  they  dipped  their 
hands  in  the  water  to  symbolise  the  inward  purity  with  which 
they  must  approach  the  holy  place.2 

Forty  marble  pillars  formed  a  framing  for  this  animated  scene, 
spread  over  the  great  flagged  open  space  and  the  four  surround- 
ing colonnades  of  which  the  pillars  upheld  the  pent-roofs.  A 
straight  entablature  surmounted  their  capitals,  and  the  frieze  was 
finely  decorated  in  mosaic.  Beyond  rose,  in  all  solemnity,  the 
lofty  front  of  the  church  with  its  great  figures  of  saints  upon  a 
gold  ground,  seemingly  exhorting  all  who  enter  to  recollection  and 
prayer.  It  seems  probable  that  the  centre-piece  of  the  mosaic 
was  a  figure  of  our  Saviour,  but  nothing  positive  is  known  con- 
cerning the  subject  of  the  mosaic.  The  present  somewhat  small 
bust  of  Christ  seen  on  the  front  is  merely  a  late  mediaeval  work. 

Five  doors  faced  the  newcomer,  a  large  one  in  the  centre, 
a  somewhat  lower  one  on  each  side,  and  two  still  smaller  for 
the  side  aisles.  Many  here  were  wont  to  kiss  the  ground  or 
the  doorposts  before  entering.  In  the  covered  walk  in  front 
of  these  five  doors,  and  also  in  the  space  near  the  portals  but 
within  the  church,  fenced  off  by  railings  and  curtains,  we  should 
have  found  other  groups  of  people,  who,  like  those  seen  pre- 
viously, were  prohibited  from  advancing  further.  These  were 
penitents,  catechumens,  and  unbelievers,  over  whom  clerics  in 
minor  orders,  the  so-called  ostiarii  or  porters,  kept  strict  watch. 
The  space  inside,  partitioned  off  by  curtains,  was  called  the 
Narthex.3 

1  Plans  and  views  in  Rohault  de  Fleury,  I.e.  Cp.  particularly  PI.  4.  In  Hubsch, 
PI.  4,  n.  4,  is  a  section  which  is  an  improvement  on  the  view  given  ibid,  under  n.  3  of  the 
ancient  church.  The  best  early  description  is  in  Panvinius,  De  septem  eccl.,  106  ff.  See 
also  Ugonio,  Stationi,  37  ff.  Cp.  Iohannes  Diaconus,  De  eccl.  lateran.,  in  Mabillon, 
Mies,  ital.,  2,  560,  and  see  how  de  Rossi,  Inscr.  christ.,  2, 'i,  p.  222,  shows  this  work 
to  have  been  written  soon  after  1073,  enlarged  later  by  John  the  Deacon  under  Pope 
Alexander  III.,  and  later  still  by  other  authors.  It  is  an  uncritical  tract,  written  to  extol 
the  Lateran  church  at  the  expense  of  St.  Peter's.  On  the  place  for  penitents,  see  Kraus, 
Gcsch.  der  christl.  Kunst,  1,  283. 

2  The  inscription  of  Leo  I.  on  the  Cantharus  of  S.  Paolo  fuori  le  Mura  speaks  of  the 
washing  of  hands  (though  only  of  hands)  ;  see  Anal,  rom.,  1,  94  ("  ablue  fonle  manus"), 
and  Paulinus  Nolan.,  P.L.,  LXL,  850.    Cp.  Tertull.,  De  oral.,  c.  11. 

3  The  Atrium  must  have  been  as  wide  as  the  Basilica,  hence  the  Atrium  as  given  in 
Rohault  de  Fleury,  Le  Latran,  PI.  4,  and  Lanciani,  Forma  Urbis,  PI.  37,  cannot  be 
the  original  one. 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  516 


Before  making  our  way  into  the  interior,  let  us,  however, 
cast  another  glance  back  over  the  Atrium,  and  recall  a  few 
historical  incidents  concerning  the  penitents  and  the  poor  of 
Rome.1 

516.  Here  in  the  Atrium  of  the  Lateran  Basilica,  on  the 
vigil  of  Easter,  the  noble  Fabiola,  of  her  own  free  will,  once 
did  public  penance.  She  had  married  again  during  the  lifetime 
of  her  Pagan  husband,  for  which  act  she  made  reparation,  so 
Jerome  says,  by  putting  on  the  sack-like  penitential  garb,  taking 
her  place  among  the  penitents,  and  confessing  her  guilt  with 
many  a  tear.  Her  feet  were  bare,  her  rich  garb  partly  rent  in 
sign  of  grief,  her  head  uncovered,  and  her  face  she  smeared 
with  ashes  to  spoil  its  comeliness.  St.  Jerome  adds  that  the 
people,  the  clergy,  and  the  Pope  were  moved  to  tears  at 
the  sight.2 

Public  penance,  as  performed  by  Fabiola,  for  reasons  easy 
to  understand,  soon  ceased  to  be  the  rule,  or  at  least  it  was  no 
longer  practised  with  the  same  zeal  as  in  early  times.  The 
authorities  of  the  Church  began  little  by  little  to  take  into  account 
the  aversion  of  the  Faithful  for  such  public  demonstration  of 
repentance.  Works  of  satisfaction  for  sin  began  more  and  more 
to  assume  a  private  character  and  to  be  performed  in  secret ; 
indeed,  penance  had  always  owed  its  value  to  its  inwardness.  In 
the  seventh  century  public  penance  was  no  longer  practised  in 
Rome  as  it  once  had  been,  though  the  institution  still  existed. 
Penitents  usually  took  up  their  abode  in  the  monasteries.  They 
continued,  however,  to  be  excluded  from  the  Sacraments  or  from 
the  church,  and  to  be  assigned  various  kinds  of  mortification. 

517.  Christian  Benevolence  was  also,  in  earlier  times,  practised 
far  more  extensively  than  in  subsequent  ages,  and  nowhere  more 
openly  than  in  the  Atrium  of  the  Basilicas. 

Paulinus  of  Nola  speaks  of  the  tables  at  which  the  noble 
Roman,  Pammachius,  once  entertained  the  poor  "  at  the  Basilica, 
in  front  of  the  doors  of  the  Atrium  and  of  the  steps  leading  up 
from  the  Campus,"  after  which  he  provided  his  guests  amply 

1  PANVINIUS,  115  :  "  quinque  portae,  sed  tres  praecipuae,  media  maior,  ab  utroque 
latere  minores  duae." 

2  HlERONYM. ,  Ep.  73,  n.  4  ff.  ;  P.L.,  XXII.,  692 :  " tota  urbe  spectante  romana,  ante 
diem  Pascliae,  in  basilica  quondam  Laterani  .  .  .  in  online  poenitentium"  &c. 


no.  5i7]  CHRISTIAN  CHARITY 


295 


with  money  and  clothing.  This  was  at  St.  Peter's  on  the  Vatican 
Hill,  and,  according  to  our  informant,  the  occasion  of  this  deed 
of  mercy  was  the  death  of  Paulina,  the  daughter  of  Paula  and 
wife  of  Pammachius.  Yet  such  liberality,  particularly  at  such 
places,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  exceptional.  The  same 
Paulinus,  urging  his  friend  Alethius  to  good  works,  points  out 
to  him  the  "tables  set  in  the  forecourts  of  the  House  of  the 
Lord  "  as  the  best  spot  where  to  exercise  his  charity.1 

In  the  works  of  the  Fathers  we  hear  not  only  of  such  pious 
souls  as  Pammachius,  but  also  of  frivolous  persons  belonging  to 
the  fashionable  world,  who  would  fain  make  as  much  fuss  as 
possible  whenever  they  spent  anything  on  the  poor  in  front  of 
St.  Peter's.  They  also  make  it  clear  that  occasionally  some  of 
the  poor  ate  and  drank  with  more  appetite  than  wisdom,  par- 
ticularly on  the  greater  feasts,  when  regular  banquets  seem  to 
have  taken  place,  in  which  the  well-to-do  shared,  bringing 
provisions  of  their  own.2 

In  Milan,  Monica,  Augustine's  saintly  mother,  with  all 
modesty  and  humility,  and  following  the  ancient  custom,  brought 
her  "baskets  and  basins"  to  the  Basilicas  on  the  anniversaries 
of  the  martyrs.  Nor  did  her  humility  fail  her  when  one  day  a 
too  officious  ostiarius  refused  her  admission  with  her  gifts,  a 
fact  which  is  recorded  in  a  letter  of  St.  Augustine.  It  was  in 
the  time  of  St.  Ambrose  that,  at  Milan,  exception  began  to  be 
taken  to  the  old  institution  of  the  Agape,  owing  to  the  abuses 
which  had  crept  into  the  observance  and  which  caused  the 
Bishop  to  issue  stringent  regulations  against  them.  This 
prohibition  Monica  was  compelled  to  obey.3 

At  Hippo  St.  Augustine  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  St. 
Ambrose,  and  was  successful  in  putting  an  end  to  the  practice 
in  Africa  of  holding  banquets  in  front  of  the  churches.  He 
explains  that  such  eating  and  drinking  outside  the  Basilicas  on 
Saints'  Days  had  at  first  been  permitted  out  of  regard  for  the 
numerous  recent  converts  from  paganism,  who  hitherto  had  been 
accustomed  to  celebrate  their  idolatrous  festivals  with  banquets 

1  Paulin.,  Ep.  13  ad  Pammachium,  P.L.,  LXI.,  213:  "et  intra  basilicam  et  pro 
iannis  atrii  et  pro  gradibics  campi  .  .  .  per  decubitus."  On  Pammachius,  see  present 
work,  vol.  i.  p.  51  f.  Paulin.,  Ep.  34  ad  Alcthium;  P.L.,  LXI.,  344:  "mensa  quae 
proposita  est  in  atriis  domus  Domini" 

8  See  above,  p.  281. 

3  Augustine,  Ep.  ad  Alypium ;  P.L.,  XXXIII.,  118,  Con/ess.,  6,  c.  2. 


296 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  517 


and  revelry  ;  now,  however,  the  time  had  come  to  follow  the 
example  of  other  Churches  and  cease  the  custom. 

When  Augustine  penned  these  words  he  must  have  been 
mindful  of  the  awkward  fact  that  in  the  City  of  Rome  it  had 
not  been  found  possible  to  uproot  a  custom  which  so  easily 
led  to  disorder.  People  there  clung  too  tenaciously  to  old- 
world  observances.  "  Some  raise  the  objection,"  says  Augustine, 
"  that  cases  of  drunkenness  are  daily  reported  at  the  Basilica 
of  St.  Peter."  To  this  he  replies  rather  lamely  that  the  prohibi- 
tion existed  even  in  Rome,  but  that  at  St.  Peter's,  which  lay  so 
far  away  from  the  Papal  residence,  little  heed  was  paid  to  it, 
for  lack  of  strict  supervision.  The  bands  of  pilgrims,  he  adds, 
often  brought  undesirable  elements  to  St.  Peter's,  and  there 
were  well-intentioned  people  who,  even  at  this  sacred  spot, 
made  a  point  of  celebrating  their  arrival  after  the  evil  fashion 
of  their  native  land.1 

In  the  meantime  the  charitable  organisation  of  the  Roman 
Church  was  becoming  ever  better  administered  and  more  far- 
reaching.  Under  Leo  I.  we  find  not  only  the  Feast  of  the 
Collection,  but  also  "  presidents,"  on  whom  the  duty  devolved 
of  receiving  the  proceeds  of  the  regular  collection  and  of  dis- 
tributing them  to  the  needy  in  the  different  regions  of  the 
City.  These  "  presidents  "  were  the  deacons.  This  organisation 
had  for  its  result  the  foundation  of  the  City  deaconries,  with 
their  churches.  The  deaconries,  however,  concerned  themselves 
merely  with  the  Church's  public  charity,  and  in  no  wise  interfered 
with  the  private  beneficence  of  the  Faithful,  which  was  exercised 
everywhere,  though  more  especially  in  the  Basilicas.  The  Popes 
further  acquired  by  donation  the  territories  (Patrimonies)  of  the 
Roman  Church,  which  enabled  them  to  dispense  abundant  alms. 
In  documents  dealing  with  the  Patrimonies,  the  Popes  styled  the 
poor  "  our  brothers,"  looking  on  them  as  "  Christ's  own  poor," 
on  whose  behalf  the  Lord,  our  common  Father,  requires  His 
Faithful  to  show  their  brotherly  affection." 2 

In  the  East  also  the  Atrium  of  the  Basilicas  was  always 
the  rallying-place  for  suffering  in  all  its  forms,  and  the  scene  of 

1  AUGUSTINE,  Ep.  ad  Alypium  :  "  de  basilica  beati  apostoli  Petri  quotidianae  vino- 
letitiae  proferebantur  cxempla." 

2  Leo  M.,  Serin.  II,  n.  2,  for  instance,  mentions  the  praesidentes,  when  making  an 
appeal  for  the  Collectio.  Liber  dinrn.,  ed  Sickel,  p.  123,  formulary  n.  95,  on  behalf  of 
the  Deaconries  :  "fratres  nostri,  Christi pauperes." 


No.  518] 


THE  LATERAN 


Christian  charity.  The  man  born  lame,  who  lay  at  the  gate 
of  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  was  for  all  time  the  natural  patron 
of  beggars  in  every  clime.  St.  Chrysostom,  in  one  of  his 
homilies,  instances  the  rows  of  beggars,  seen  every  day,  sitting 
in  front  of  the  church,  and  advises  his  listeners  to  cleanse  their 
souls  by  giving  alms,  just  as  they  attend  to  their  outward  clean- 
liness by  washing  their  hands  at  the  fountain  in  the  forecourt.1 

It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  Romans,  in  Pagan  times,  had 
been  wont  to  find  the  beggars  assembled  on  the  steps  leading  to 
the  temples,  whilst  basins  for  purification  were  seldom  wanting  in 
front  of  the  abodes  of  the  gods.  For  these  lustrations  use  was 
made  of  the  so-called  perirrhanteria.  Homer  mentions  such 
religious  purifications  in  many  passages.  It  was  the  natural 
expression  of  a  universal  human  feeling  that  one  should  cleanse 
oneself  before  approaching  the  Supreme  Being.  The  symbolic 
purification  at  the  church  door  was  something  as  natural  as  the 
custom  of  giving  alms  at  the  spot  where  the  suppliant  implores 
the  blessings  of  Heaven  for  himself. 

It  is  high  time  now  to  conduct  our  visitor  into  the  Lateran 
Basilica  itself. 

Interior  of  the  Lateran  Basilica 

518.  On  entering  the  nave,  the  visitor  would  have  found 
himself  in  a  great  forest  of  columns  (111.  2 20). 2 

They  divided  the  vast  area  of  the  church  into  five  unequal 
aisles.  The  central  aisle  or  nave,  with  its  six-and-thirty  enor- 
mous marble  pillars,  exceeded  the  others  both  in  breadth  and 
height.  The  somewhat  smaller  side  aisles,  next  to  the  nave, 
and  the  two  still  narrower  aisles  beyond  them,  were  separated 
by  pillars,  six-and-forty  in  number,  arranged  in  two  rows.  The 
pillars  of  the  nave  were  crowned  some  with  Corinthian  and  some 
with  Ionic  capitals,  purloined  from  older  buildings,  and  bearing 

1  Chrysost.,  De poenit.,  horn.  3,  n.  2  ;  P.G.,  XLIX.,  294. 

-  A  new  drawing  by  the  Roman  artist  Tabanelli  from  the  original  on  the  wall  of  the 
left  aisle  near  the  entrance  in  S.  Martino  ai  Monti.  This  picture  is  probably  more  true 
to  reality  than  the  similar  painting,  found  in  the  same  church,  of  the  interior  of  Old  St. 
Peter's,  for  at  the  time  the  pictures  were  painted  the  Lateran  was  still  unchanged, 
whereas  Old  St.  Peter's  being  then  no  longer  in  existence,  the  artist  must  necessarily 
have  drawn  largely  on  his  fancy.  Our  draughtsman  has  left  in  the  high  Gothic  taber- 
nacle of  Urban  V.,  and  likewise  the  Gothic  lights  of  the  apse  and  clerestory.  He  has, 
however,  confined  himself  to  reproducing  the  main  outlines  of  the  picture,  which  alone 
are  of  interest  to  us  here,  and  thereby  given  a  more  distinct  idea  of  the  whole  than  can 
be  obtained  from  a  photograph. 


2o8 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  518 


witness,  by  their  unevenness,  to  the  haste  with  which  the 
Basilica  was  constructed. 

The  pillars  of  the  side  aisles,  though  of  smaller  size,  were 
of  more  valuable  material,  being  all  of  that  green  marble  known 
as  verde  antico,  with  capitals  of  the  same  stone  elegantly  chiselled. 
The  green  columns  may  have  come  from  the  chief  hall  of  the  old 
mansion  of  the  Laterani.  In  the  Basilica  they  rested  on  rather 
high  square  bases,  for  which  they  had  certainly  not  been  made 
originally.1 

The  grandeur  and  the  quiet  harmony  of  the  interior  as  a 
whole  was,  however,  scarcely  affected  by  slight  discordances  in 
the  parts.2 

The  two  giant  pillars  supporting  the  Triumphal  Arch 
directed  the  visitor's  eye  to  the  mosaics  above.  Beyond  this 
might  have  been  seen  the  Ciborium-altar,  and,  still  farther 
away,  the  concha  of  the  apse,  with  its  golden  ground,  on  which 
a  great  bust  of  our  Saviour  was  surrounded  by  other  figures 
in  mosaic. 

Among  the  many  details  of  architecture  and  ornament  attract- 
ing our  view,  we  may  note  the  broad  transepts  opening  behind 
the  Triumphal  Arch,  the  airy  arches  poised  above  the  pillars  of 
the  nave,  the  long  line  of  pictures  in  their  square  frames,  on  the 
walls  above  the  arches,  and  the  round-arched  windows  of  the 
clerestory,  filled  with  pierced  marble  which  mellowed  the  light. 
Between  the  windows  there  were  again  pictures  from  sacred 
history,  Old  Testament  scenes  probably  alternating  with  the 
pictures  of  their  New  Testament  antitypes,  according  to  the 
custom  then  in  vo^ue.  There  were  also  round-arched  windows 
in  the  lesser  clerestories  of  the  aisles  above  the  arches  supported 
by  the  pillars  in  verde  antico. 

The  roof  of  the  outer  aisles  sloped  outwards  and  rested  on  the 
side  walls  of  the  building.  Through  these  walls  also,  light  entered 
the  Basilica  through  a  long  line  of  round-arched  windows.  The 
covering  of  the  nave,  since  the  time  of  Constantine  the  Great, 
was  a  wide-spanned,  flat,  wooden  ceiling.    It  was  embossed  all 

1  Ugonio  in  his  day  still  found  seven  of  the  big  pillars  ;  the  rest  had  already  been 
enclosed  by  the  pilasters.  There  were  also  forty-two  small  ones,  "di  pietra  verde, 
laconica,  allegra  e  gratissima  all'  occhio."  Panvinio  mentions  thirty  big  pillars,  four 
pilasters,  and  forty-two  small  columns  " cum  elegantissimis  capitulis" 

2  Another  such  discordance  is  pointed  out  by  Dehio  (p.  105) :  "The  intercolumnisa- 
tion  of  the  outer  and  inner  rows  of  pillars  disagrees,  betraying  a  sad  lack  of  symmetry  in 
the  original  design." 


111.  220. — The  Lateran  Basilica. 
(Interior  as  it  was  formerly.    After  a  picture  painted  in  1640-1644.) 


No.  518] 


THE  LATERAN 


299 


over  with  finely  wrought  gilt  shields  which  shed  an  exquisite  lustre 
over  the  whole  interior  of  the  Basilica.  It  may  be  that  it  was  to 
this  adornment  that  the  church  owed  its  later  name  of  "The 
Golden  Basilica."1 

At  the  present  day  the  condition  of  the  Lateran  is  very 
different. 

Of  all  the  ancient  pillars  only  two  are  now  seen,  namely,  those 
in  granite  which  support  the  Triumphal  Arch.  During  the 
restoration  directed  by  Borromini,  in  the  pontificate  of  Inno- 
cent X.,  all  the  others  which  yet  remained  were  immured  two 
by  two  in  the  twelve  massive  square  pillars  of  the  present 
church.  The  pillars  of  the  side  aisles  of  verde  antico,  to  the 
number  of  twenty-four,  were  shortened,  and  then  placed  against 
the  new  pillars  to  serve  as  frames  to  the  statues  of  the  Apostles. 
Under  Leo  XIII.  even  the  ancient  apse,  of  which  the  size  was 
indeed  disproportionately  small,  disappeared  to  make  room  for  a 
more  spacious  one,  decorated  in  modern  style.  The  great  nave 
of  the  church,  which  has  unfortunately  quite  lost  its  basilical 
stamp,  was  again,  in  the  time  of  Pius  IV.,  supplied  with  a  richly 
panelled  ceiling.2 

Despite  the  transformation  it  has  undergone,  the  venerable 
building  has  never  been  shifted  from  its  ancient  foundations. 
Parts  of  the  outer  walls  may  still  be  Constantinian,  although, 
as  early  as  the  end  of  the  ninth  century  (896),  in  consequence 
of  an  earthquake,  and  later  owing  to  two  fires  during  the  time 
of  the  Popes'  exile  at  Avignon,  great  restorations  were  under- 
taken. Very  rightly,  during  the  restoration  under  Innocent  X., 
care  was  taken  to  leave  exposed,  at  certain  points  above  the  piers 
of  the  nave,  the  walls  of  the  ancient  building.  These  places  are 
now  filled  by  medallions  of  the  prophets.3 

A  clear  and  tolerably  faithful  reproduction  of  the  mediaeval 
Basilica  is  afforded  by  a  mural  painting  in  San  Martino  ai  Monti 
(111.  220).4 

1  We  must  apply  to  this  ceiling  what  the  Liber  pout.  {Silvester,  n.  36)  says  of  the 
"camera  ex  auro  trimita  in  longam  et  latum."  Cp.  EUSEB.,  Vita  Const.,  3,  c.  32, 
regarding  the  Ka/xipa  Xanuvapia  at  the  church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  in  Jerusalem. 
HOLTZINGER,  pp.  52,  72,  138.    See  present  work,  vol.  ii.  p.  105,  note  3. 

2  The  proportions  are  thus  given:  Length  of  nave,  282  feet ;  width,  52  feet  ;  height 
of  Triumphal  Arch,  35  feet  ;  breadth  of  vestibule,  182  feet;  its  depth,  29  feet. 

3  On  the  identity  of  the  building,  see  Rohault  de  Fleury,  Lc  Latran,  p.  18. 

*  Doulcet  had  an  article  on  this  picture,  with  a  good  reproduction,  in  Mil.  cf arche'ol.  et 
d'hist.,  5  (1885),  377  fT.,  PI.  14a.  Cp.  the  illustration  from  Essenwein,  ih  Holtzinger, 
Die  altchr.  Baukunst,  38,  fig.  3 1 . 


3°° 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  519 


This  painting  was  executed  between  1640  and  1644,  and,  on 
the  whole,  shows  the  state  of  the  Basilica  prior  to  the  restoration. 
From  it  we  can  gain  some  idea  of  the  beauty  of  the  five-aisled 
church,  with  its  splendid  marble  pillars.  The  timbers  of  the  roof 
are  seen  minus  any  ceiling.  The  early  pictures  are  still  resplendent 
above  the  arcades  of  the  nave,  though  the  windows  of  the  clere- 
story and  those  of  the  apse  have  now  been  provided  with  pointed 
arches.  In  front  of  the  presbyterium,  at  the  top  of  the  steps, 
rises  the  superb  Gothic  pillared  tabernacle  of  Urban  V.,  behind 
which  may  be  seen  the  marble  balustrade  of  the  apse.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  screen  across  the  nave,  forming  the  square 
enclosure  of  the  Schola  cantortmi,  and  likewise  the  Ambones, 
have  both  disappeared.1 

The  "Mother  of  all  Churches"  had  thus  to  experience  many 
vicissitudes  in  the  course  of  her  age-long  career. 

519.  Until  the  apse  was  removed  under  Leo  XIII.  to  make 
way  for  a  new  one,  it  had  almost  escaped  notice  that  a  great  part 
of  the  earliest  work  was  still  preserved  in  the  mosaic  (111.  22 1).2 
Eugene  Mtintz,  who  by  his  researches  among  the  monuments 
of  Roman  art  has  deserved  so  well,  was  the  first  to  point 
this  out.3 

The  fine,  majestic  bust  of  Christ,  which  occupies  the  centre, 
must  have  been  there  from  the  beginning,  whilst,  below,  the 
figures  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  of  the  Baptist,  and  of  the  Apostles 
Peter,  Paul,  John,  and  Andrew,  seem  to  belong  to  the  earlier 
composition.  The  gorgeously  decorated  cross  in  the  middle 
may  also  belong  to  the  original  picture  ;  it  stands  on  a  hill, 
whence  flow  the  four  mystic  streams.  The  figures  of  St.  Francis 
and  of  St.  Anthony,  on  the  contrary,  were  inserted  in  their  places 
amidst  the  other  saints  by  Nicholas  IV. 

When  this  Pope  reconstructed  the  apse  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  he  must  have  left  intact  all  the  principal  figures,  and 
we  have  even  the  express  testimony  of  an  inscription  that 
the  fine  head  of  Christ  was  never  interfered  with.    The  broad, 

1  On  the  Ambones,  see  Panvinius,  119:  "  duo  marmoreapulpita,  quemadmodum  sunt 
in  basilica  S.  Mariae  Maioris,  S.  Pauli,  SS.  Cosmae  et  Datniani,  et  in  omnibus  Urbis 
basilicis." 

2  From  a  sketch  made  previous  to  the  last  "restoration." 

3  Revue  archc'oL,  1878,  II.,  273,  and  1879,  II.,  109:  Des  elements  antiques  dans  les 
mosaiques  romaines  du  moyen-age. 


no.  5i9]  THE  LATERAN  301 

lower  border  of  the  picture,  with  its  idyllic  scenery,  was  also 
spared.1 

On  this  rich  border  we  perceive  a  picture  quite  typically 
antique,  formed  of  cheerful  river  scenes,  with  graceful  boys  and 
sportive  monsters  of  the  deep.  Right  and  left  little  naked  genii 
are  emptying  water  from  shell-shaped  vases,  the  two  streams 
becoming  the  river  to  which  is  given  the  name  IORDANES. 
On  the  pleasant  waters  naked  winged  urchins  are  angling  with 
rods  and  nets,  or  sailing  amidst  swans  and  fishes  ;  others  disport 
themselves  on  the  bank  among  flowers  and  birds.2 

The  scene  is  quite  in  the  style  of  that  still  preserved  in  the 
lower  border  of  the  mosaic  in  the  apse  of  Sta.  Maria  Maggiore 
and  of  the  lost  mosaics  on  the  cupola  of  Sta.  Costanza,  of  which 
we  have  sketches.3 

The  latter  church,  which  stands  near  the  Basilica  of  St.  Agnes 
on  the  Via  Nomentana,  had  received  its  mosaic  decoration,  some 
of  which  still  remains,  during  the  Constantinian  period.  In  this 
circular  building,  which,  though  now  known  as  Sta.  Costanza, 
was  in  the  fourth  century  the  Imperial  mausoleum,  and  then 
a  baptistery,  the  whole  lower  border  within  the  cupola  was 
peopled,  even  more  thickly  than  the  similar  border  in  the 
churches  just  mentioned,  with  frolicsome  winged  genii  sporting 
in  a  river.  Amongst  other  diversions,  they  were  chasing  swans 
and  casting  harpoons  at  marine  animals  as  large  as  them- 
selves. 

What  favourites  such  scenes  were  in  classic  antiquity  is 
proved  by  the  heathen  mausoleums  with  their  genii  in  marble, 
plaster,  or  painting,  engaged  in  pastoral  toil  or  pleasures.  It  is 
also  seen  in  the  early  imitations  of  this  manner  of  decoration, 
especially  in  Constantine's  time,  even  on  Christian  sarcophagi.  A 
heathen  mosaic  at  Constantine  in  Algeria,  for  instance,  showing 

1  See  metrical  inscription  in  FORCELLA,  Iscrizioni,  8,  15,  n.  16.  It  begins  :  "  Tertins 
ecclesiae pater"  and  of  the  head  of  Christ  it  says  :  "  Quo fuerat  steteratque  situ  relocatur 
eodemT  Panvinius,  114.  Illustrations  of  the  whole  mosaic,  previous  to  the  rebuilding 
under  Leo  XIII.,  in  Fortuna,  Chiese,t,  PI.  1,  and  excellent  coloured  ones  in  DE  ROSSI, 
Musaici,  though  with  no  explanations.  Under  Leo  XIII.  the  ancient  mosaic  was  taken 
to  pieces,  and  put  together  again  in  the  new  apse.  As  to  whether  sufficient  attention 
was  paid  to  the  Pope's  injunctions  to  preserve  the  ancient  character  of  the  work  is  a 
matter  which  cannot  be  dealt  with  here.    See  Duchesne,  Liber pont.,  1,  191,  note  28. 

2  On  the  symbolic  meaning  of  the  Jordan,  see  Heuser,  Realencykl.  fur  chr.  Alterth., 
2,  21.  In  the  Clavis  ascribed  to  Melito,  we  read:  "  lordanis  .  .  .  baptisnii  figuram 
habens."    Ed.  PlTRA,  Spicileg.  Solesmense,  3,  297. 

3  The  lost  pictures  from  S.  Costanza,  in  GARRUCCI,  PI.  204,  from  the  sketch-book  of 
Francisco  d'Ollanda  in  the  Escurial.    See  present  work,  vol.  ii.  pp.  129,  145. 


3°2 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  lno.  520 


the  triumph  of  Neptune,  contains  some  striking  parallels  to  the 
river  scenes  in  the  mosaic  of  the  Lateran  Basilica.1 

Having  supported  our  case  by  comparison  with  Sta.  Costanza, 
and  the  other  monuments,  we  may  well  venture  to  push  the  date 
of  the  mosaic  in  the  Constantinian  church  of  the  Lateran  even 
further  back  than  does  Miintz.  This  investigator  stopped  short 
at  about  the  fifth  century  ;  the  mosaic  might,  however,  quite  well 
belong  to  the  fourth  century,  and  to  the  time  of  Constantine's 
family. 

The  inscription  of  Flavius  Constantius  Felix,  Consul  in  428, 
which  once  existed  in  the  apse,  presents  no  great  difficulty.  It 
spoke  of  an  unspecified  decoration,  executed  by  him  and  his  wife 
Padusia,  at  that  sacred  spot.  This  was  thought  to  refer  to  the 
mosaic  itself,  but  as  the  inscription  stood  immediately  above  the 
Papal  throne  at  the  back  of  the  apse  {in  thrond),  as  the  careful 
copyist  to  whom  we  owe  the  information  remarks  in  the  ninth 
century,  it  should  refer  either  to  the  throne  itself  or  to  some 
marble  work  on  the  wall  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  not  to  the 
mosaic  high  up  in  the  concha  of  the  apse.2 

The  Papal  throne  used  in  the  Middle  Ages  is  still  shown  in 
the  present  transept  as  the  "  Throne  of  St.  Silvester."  The 
throne  is  certainly  mediaeval  and  not  early  Christian,  but  its  seat 
is  a  splendid  ancient  marble  stool  dating  from  the  best  classic 
period  long  before  Silvester.  This  marble  stool  may  well  have 
been  used  by  Pope  Silvester,  but  of  this  nothing  is  known  ;  it 
may  also  be  that  the  decoration  carried  out  by  Constantius  Felix 
consisted  in  bestowing-  some  unknown  adornment  on  this  article 
of  furniture.3 

520.  To  return  for  a  moment  to  the  remarkable  portrait  of 
Christ  in  the  apse  (111.  222)}    In  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  cen- 

1  The  Neptune  scenes,  in  Delamare,  Exploration  scientifique  de  PAlge'rie; 
Archeologie,  PI.  139  ff. 

2  The  inscription,  in  DE  ROSSI,  Inscr.  christ.,  2,  1,  pp.  149,  307.  DUCHESNE,  Liber 
pont.,  1,241;  2,  236.    Anal,  roin.,  1,  480. 

3  For  the  throne  now  standing  in  the  Lateran  cloister,  see  ROHAULT  DE  FLEURY, 
Latran,  PI.  22,  23.  On  the  semicircle  of  the  apse  round  the  throne,  Panvinius,  119  : 
"  hemicyclum  e  nobilissimo  marmore  sectis  tabulis  incrustatum?  The  wall  of  the  apse  is 
similarly  ornamented  in  Sta.  Agnese,  SS.  Nereo  ed  Achilleo,  and  in  other  early  churches 
of  Rome. 

4  A  photo  taken  long  ago  by  Parker.  As  this  is  the  only  known  photograph  of  the 
famous  figure  of  Christ  taken  previous  to  the  restoration,  and  as  the  negatives  of  Parker's 
whole  collection  of  photographs  of  the  monuments  of  ancient  and  mediaeval  Rome  were 
unfortunately  destroyed  in  a  fire,  our  reproduction  is  of  considerable  interest.  Regarding 


No.  520] 


THE  LATERAN 


turies,  it  was  believed  to  be  the  earliest  portrait  of  our  Saviour 
publicly  exhibited  in  Rome.  If  it  really  dates  from  Constantine 
or  Silvester,  then  the  tradition  may  well  be  accepted,  for  it  is  by 
no  means  unlikely  that  the  features  of  the  Saviour  of  the  World, 
depicted  according  to  the  ideas  then  in  vogue,  were  first  dis- 
played in  monumental  fashion  to  half  heathen  Rome,  on  the 
holiest  spot  of  the  great  Christian  church  near  the  Lateran. 

The  portrait,  in  spite  of  its  restorations,  still  retains  the  noble, 
and  yet  perfectly  reposeful,  expression  with  which  antiquity  stamped 
it.  It  shows  nothing  of  the  severity  and  rigidity  usual  in  the  later 
Byzantine  figures  of  Christ.  The  mosaic  tesserae  of  which  it  was 
originally  composed  were  somewhat  large,  and  the  smaller  ones 
found  in  the  nimbus  were  due  to  later  restorations.  Everything 
showed  the  care  with  which  past  ages  had  treated  this  venerable 
likeness. 

About  the  thirteenth  century  a  curious  legend  attached  itself 
to  this  picture. 

In  the  twelfth  century,  John  the  Deacon,  in  his  description  of 
the  Lateran  Church,  simply  voiced  the  tradition  of  his  time, 
stating  that  this  was  the  first  portrait  of  Christ  placed  in  a  public 
building  of  Rome.  This,  however,  did  not  satisfy  those  who  came 
later.  Towards  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century,  in  the  time  of 
Nicholas  IV.  (f  1292),  who  restored  the  apse,  the  author  of  the 
dedicatory  inscription  inserted  at  this  restoration,  speaks  in  it  of 
the  miraculous  apparition  of  the*  likeness ;  according  to  him  it 
had  sprung  from  the  wall  at  the  dedication  of  the  Basilica  by 
Silvester.1 

Parker's  other  photographs  reproduced  in  the  present  work,  we  may  well  call  attention 
to  their  rarity  ;  many  objects  which  have  entirely  disappeared  in  the  modern  "improve- 
ment" of  the  City  are  now  known  only  through  his  work. 

1  lOHANNES  DiACONUS,  in  Mabillon,  Mus.  ital.,  2,  562:  "imago  .  .  .  firimum 
visibilis  omni  populo  romano  apparuit."  Similarly,  the  Lateran  lectionary,  now  lost,  but 
quoted  by  Crescimbeni,  Stato  delta  chiesa  later,  nel  ami.  1723,  p.  156,  a  work  compiled 
at  about  the  same  period,  says  :  "  imago  .  .  .  primum  visibiliter  omni  populo  romano 
apparuit."  Even  in  the  verses  of  Nicholas  IV.  in  the  Lateran  referred  to  above  (p.  301, 
note  1),  we  find  simply:  "  Postremoque  prima  Dei  veneranda  refulsit  \  Visibus  humanis 
fades"  Crescimbeni,  the  most  ardent  defender  of  the  miracle,  has  to  confess  that  these 
three  texts,  the  only  ones  surviving,  give  no  explicit  support  to  the  tradition  of  a  miracle, 
"mentre  anche  cio  che  dal  pittore  vien  dipinto,  si  puo  dire  che  apparisca  agli  occhi  de' 
riguardanti."  Nevertheless  the  inscription,  which  ran  round  below  the  mosaic  of  the 
apse  restored  by  Nicholas  IV.,  said  in  its  second  portion  :  "sacrum  vultum  salvatoris 
integrum  reponi feat  in  loco,  ubi primo  miraculose  populo  romano  apparuit,  quando  fuit 
ista  ecclesia  consecrata."  Forcella,  8,  14,  n.  14.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  this 
second  part  was  not  added  later  still,  as  the  other  inscription  of  Nicholas  IV.,  containing 
the  list  of  the  holy  things  (sancluaria)  of  the  Lateran  church,  has  no  allusion  to  the 
picture  (ibid.,  n.  15).    The  whole  inscription  has  now  been  "restored." 


304  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  521 

It  is  to  the  exuberant  fancy  of  the  same  period  that  we  owe 
the  extraordinary  inscription,  ascribing  to  the  Lateran  church  the 
possession  of  certain  celebrated  relics  which  long  since,  even  in 
the  Lateran  itself,  have  come  to  be  regarded  as  mere  creations  of 
the  mediaeval  mind.  These  relics  are  the  ark  of  the  Covenant, 
the  two  tables  of  the  Law,  the  staff  of  Moses,  Aaron's  rod,  the 
seven-branched  golden  candlestick,  and  the  golden  pot  with  manna 
from  the  wilderness.  All  these  articles,  and  many  other  secret 
treasures,  were,  so  we  are  told,  brought  by  "  Titus  and  Vespasian  " 
from  Jerusalem,  and,  later  on,  concealed  beneath  the  altar  of  St. 
Silvester.  The  inscription  even  finds  a  proof  of  the  fact  of 
these  relics  having  been  brought  to  Rome,  in  the  scene  of  the 
triumphal  procession  on  the  Arch  of  Titus  (see  present  work, 
Vol.  I.,  111.  17).1 

521.  Between  the  apse  and  the  altar  of  the  Lateran  Basilica 
stood  four  lofty  Corinthian  bronze-gilt  pillars,  said  to  have  been 
erected  by  Constantine. 

At  any  rate  they  were  extremely  old,  as  also  was  the  custom 
of  erecting  isolated  pillars  in,  or  in  front  of,  sanctuaries,  where 
they  stood  like  so  many  sentinels.  In  the  forecourt  of  Solomon's 
Temple  were  two  pillars,  called  Jachin  and  Booz.  The  Phoe- 
nicians had  two  similar  columns  in  the  Temple  of  Baalsami  at  Tyre. 
The  above  inscription,  already  alluded  to  as  having  been  placed 
there  in  the  time  of  Nicholas  IV.,  even  states  concerning  the  four 
bronze  pillars  of  the  Lateran,  that  they  had  been  brought  to  Rome 
by  Titus  with  the  other  trophies  from  the  Holy  Land.2 

The  two  pairs  of  pillars  repeatedly  changed  their  position 
during  the  Middle  Ages.  At  present  they  are  standing,  in  only 
slightly  altered  form,  at  the  side  altar  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
erected  by  Clement  VIII.  beneath  the  so-called  Table  of  the  Last 
Supper.3 

The  original  Constantinian  altar  of  the  Basilica  had  its  place 

1  FORCELLA,  8,  14,  n.  15.    Cp.  vol.  i.  p.  97,  note  3. 

2  Panvinius,  118:  "  quattuor  miri  operis  columnae  corinthio  acre  et  opere  fabricatae." 
Ugonio  (p.  42)  mentions  that  the  pillars  were  full  of  stones  and  broken  tiles, "  che  dicono 
essere  di  Terra  Santa."  De  Rossi,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1882,  p.  142,  upon  the  pillars 
(3  Kings  vii.  21)  from  Jerusalem  and  other  similar  ones,  with  an  illustration  of  a  painted 
glass  in  the  Vatican  Museum,  showing  the  pillars  in  the  Jewish  Temple. 

3  Panvinius  (p.  118)  informs  us  that  they  formerly  stood  "paulo  ante  absidem." 
There  he  saw  them  "a  laeva  sinistraque  altaris."  For  their  place  in  an  engraving  of  the 
year  1508  in  the  Lateran  archives,  see  Doulcet,  Mel.  a" arch,  et  d'/iist.,  5  (1885),  380. 


No.  521] 


THE  LATERAN 


3°5 


beneath  the  Triumphal  Arch,  and  in  front  of  it  the  Emperor  had 
two  big  candelabra  {phara  cant  hard)  set  up,  one  of  gold  and  the 
other  of  silver.  The  altar  was  surmounted  by  a  gorgeous  pillared 
tabernacle  or  canopy  of  beaten  silver.  After  this  had  disappeared, 
probably  during  one  of  the  sacks  the  City  had  to  experience, 
Xystus  III.  had  a  new  tabernacle  executed,  in  which  work  he  was 
greatly  assisted  by  the  munificence  of  Valentinian  III.  No  less 
than  2000  lbs.  of  silver  were  used  in  making  it ;  we  may  assume 
that  the  new  structure,  like  its  predecessor,  was  ornamented  with 
metal-work  either  hammered  or  cast.  The  principal  figure,  as 
was  fitting  in  a  church  dedicated  to  St.  Saviour,  was  Christ  our 
Lord,  shown  seated  on  a  throne,  surrounded  by  the  twelve 
Apostles.1 

Although  this  altar,  agreeably  with  early  custom,  was  the  only 
one  in  the  Basilica,  yet  we  read  that  Constantine  had,  at  the  same 
time,  ordered  seven  smaller  silver  altar-tables  to  be  prepared.  No 
doubt  they  were  intended  to  supplement  the  high  altar,  near 
which  they  were  placed. 

For  the  making  of  each  of  these  altars,  200  lbs.  of  silver  were 
required  ;  they  were  probably  so  placed  as  to  extend  into  the  aisles, 
which  on  great  occasions  were  filled  with  Faithful,  who,  like  those 
in  the  nave,  were  accustomed  to  bring  their  offerings  of  bread  and 
wine.  These  offerings  were  most  likely  deposited  on  the  side- 
altars  ;  as  there  were  seven  "  Deacons  of  the  Apostolic  See,"  we 
may  suppose  that  there  was  one  to  attend  to  each  of  these  tables, 
and  to  the  oblatae  and  scyphi  upon  it.2 

Seven  scyphi  (vessels  for  wine)  and  seven  patenae  (plates  for 
bread)  are  named  also  in  the  ancient  inventories  as  having  been 
among  Constantine's  donations  to  the  Lateran.  There  were  also 
seven  brazen  candlesticks.  The  exact  object  of  these  gifts  is  not 
specified,  but  their  sevenfold  number  leads  us  to  the  conclusion 
that  they  were  for  use  at  the  seven  silver  altars. 

John  the  Deacon,  a  learned  Roman,  writes  in  the  sixth  century 
that  it  was  an  ancient  custom  in  the  City  (hence  certainly  a  custom 
at  the  Pope's  own  church  in  the  Lateran)  to  dress  seven  altars  on 
Holy  Saturday  ;  he  does  not,  however,  explain  the  reason  of  this 

1  Valentinian's  tabernacle,  Liber  fiont.,  1,  233,  Xystus  III.,  n.  64.  Constantine's 
tabernacle,  ibid.,  i,  172,  Silvester,  n.  36  :  "fastidium  argcnteum  battutilem,  qui  habet  in 
fro?ite  Salvatorem"  &c. 

2  Duchesne,  Liber  pont.,  1,  191,  note  33.  Our  early  authorities  mention  the  exist- 
ence of  seven  altars  only  in  the  case  of  the  Lateran  Basilica. 

VOL.  III.  U 


306 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  521 


practice.  In  the  absence  of  any  information  we  shall,  however, 
be  justified  if  we  surmise  that  the  practice  stood  in  some  connec- 
tion with  the  seven  altars  of  Constantine  and  with  the  sevenfold 
number  of  the  deacons  and  regions  of  Rome.1 

By  the  sixth  century,  moreover,  the  ancient  custom  of  each 
church  having  but  one  altar  no  longer  obtained  in  Rome.  Even 
earlier,  in  the  fourth  and  the  fifth  centuries,  other  altars  were  to  be 
found  in  adjoining  oratories,  and  in  the  sixth  century  such  altars 
made  their  way  into  the  church  itself.  In  a  letter  despatched  in 
596  by  Gregory  the  Great  to  Santo  {Saintes)  in  Gaul,  a  church  of 
the  neighbourhood  is  mentioned,  which  had  no  fewer  than  thirteen 
altars,  of  which  four  had,  however,  not  yet  been  consecrated  by 
burial  of  relics  of  the  martyrs  ;  the  Pope  was,  accordingly,  sending 
relics  of  four  saints  for  the  purpose  of  this  consecration  to  the 
Bishop  interested.2 

The  altar  of  the  Lateran  Basilica  had  at  first  no  real  Confessio, 
i.e.  no  hollow  shaft  beneath  the  altar,  such  as  we  find  in  other 
Basilicas  where  the  bodies  of  martyrs  remain  in  their  original 
resting-place.  The  church  of  the  Lateran  was  not  a  sepulchral 
church  like  St.  Peter's  and  St.  Paul's,  or  San  Lorenzo,  Sta.  Agnese, 
and  others,  a  circumstance  which  accounts  for  the  apparent  ex- 
ception. Sergius  II.  (1847)  is  the  first  of  whom  we  hear  that  he 
"  created  a  Confession  in  the  Lateran  Basilica,  and  consecrated  it, 
depositing  relics  with  his  own  hands."  3 

This  same  Pope  also  carried  out  some  improvements  in  the 
vestibule  of  the  church,  which  some  chose  to  refer  to  the  Scala 
Santa  which  now  stands  close  to  the  Lateran,  and  which,  according 
to  an  opinion  popular  in  the  last  few  centuries,  had  been  used  by 
our  Saviour  in  the  house  of  Pilate  at  the  time  of  the  Passion. 
Did  the  statement  concerning  Sergius  really  refer  to  this,  then  it 
would  certainly  be  most  interesting.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  how- 
ever, it  refers  to  something  quite  different.  Reading  it  carefully, 
we  see  that,  some  time  before  the  pontificate  of  Pope  Sergius,  the 
porch  immediately  in  front  of  the  church  doors  had  been  largely 
walled  in,  probably  to  strengthen  the  structure.  The  effect  of 
this  was,  however,  to  conceal  the  doors  and  the  threshold  of  the 
sacred  fane.     Sergius  accordingly  rebuilt  the  porch  and  removed 

1  lOHANNES  DlACONUS,  Ep.  ad  Se?iariiu)i ;  MABILLON,  Mus.  Ital.,  2,  p.  c. ;  P.L., 
LIX.,  402.    John  lived  in  Rome  in  Theodoric's  time. 

2  Registr.,  6,  n.  48  (Maur.,  6,  n.  49). 

3  Liber  pont.,  2,  91,  n.  489. 


no.  523]      VOWS  AND  VOTIVE  OFFERINGS  307 

the  offending  wall.  The  Liber  pontificalis  says  that  he  restored 
to  the  view  of  all  the  sacred  threshold  {sacra  limind)  which  had 
formerly  been  hidden.  It  is  quite  clear  that  any  attempt  to  read 
into  these  words  the  discovery  of  the  Scala  Santa  is  doomed  to 
failure.1 

Moreover,  a  small  portion  of  this  porch,  the  corner  to  the  left 
on  entering,  remained  closed — perhaps,  indeed,  never  had  been 
open.  This  was  the  spot  (111.  219  at  G)  occupied  by  the  Secre- 
tarium  or  Sacrariiim,  later  on  known  as  the  Sacristv.2 

522.  The  Secretarium  at  St.  Peter's  was  also  at  the  same  spot. 
Gregory  the  Great  was  buried  in  the  forecourt  of  the  Vatican 
Basilica  in  the  passage  in  front  of  the  left  corner  of  the  portico, 
and  our  authorities  always  speak  of  his  burial-place  as  "  in  front 
of  the  Secretarium? 3 

In  the  halls  here,  which  also  served  for  the  custody  of  articles 
used  in  the  services,  Synods  were  sometimes  held.  There  on 
special  occasions,  like  other  bishops  in  their  churches,  the  Pope 
received  the  greetings  of  distinguished  laymen.  It  was  there  too 
that  he  and  his  attendants  usually  assembled  ad  procedendum,  i.e. 
to  make  their  solemn  entry  into  the  church  for  the  liturgy.4 

From  thence,  too,  under  escort  of  the  clergy,  started  the 
processions  bringing  costly  votive  offerings  to  the  high  altar.  It 
was  nothing  unusual  to  see  stately  pageants  of  foreign  envoys, 
sent  by  sovereigns,  nobles,  or  bishops  from  every  region,  pro- 
ceeding up  the  Papal  Cathedral  Church,  or  St.  Peter's  of  the 
Vatican,  bearing  such  offerings  in  silver  or  gold  to  adorn  the 
altar  or  its  neighbourhood. 

Votive  Offerings — Vows 

523.  In  all  the  Basilicas  of  Rome,  the  votive  offerings  which 
the  house  of  God  owed  to  the  liberality  of  the  Faithful,  and  which 
were  frequently  mementoes  of  pious  vows  made  during  difficulties 

1  Ibid.  :  "  sacra  pridem  quae  latebant populis  limina  summo  studio  omnibus  manifesto, 
constituit,  cum pulchri  decoris  ibidem  arcos  a  fundamentis  constituit,"  &c. 

2  Panvinius,  115.  This  Secretarium  was  generally  called  the  Oratory  of  St.  Thomas 
and  from  it  one  of  the  five  doors  (the  last  on  the  left)  led  direct  into  the  Basilica. 

3  Liber pont.,  i,  312,  n.  113. 

4  On  the  reception  of  the  laity  ("f/ii  ecclesiae")  at  Ravenna,  see  Greg.,  Registr.,  3, 
n.  54  (3,  n.  56). 


o8 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  525 


public  or  private,  were  exposed  in  the  vicinity  of  the  altar,  parti- 
cularly on  the  Pergula,  when  there  was  one. 

How  donations  of  value  were  offered  to  the  Basilicas  by 
persons  of  high  rank  may  be  best  seen  at  the  present  day  upon 
two  large  mosaics  at  Ravenna,  one  of  which  appears  upon  the 
accompanying  illustration  (111.  223). 1  It  is  in  the  church  of  San 
Vitale,  upon  a  wall  near  the  apse,  and  represents  the  Emperor 
Justinian  I.,  escorted  by  two  courtiers  and  several  guards.  He 

is  wearing  a  magnificent 
chlamys,  and,  besides  his 
crown,  is  provided  with  a  cir- 
cular nimbus.  The  Emperor 
holds  in  his  hands  a  golden 
paten,  or  salver,  studded 
outside  with  gems.  Beside 
the  Emperor  stands  Maxi- 
mian,  Archbishop  of  Ra- 
venna, bearing  a  cross,  and 
attended  by  two  deacons, 
of  whom  one  holds  the 
book  of  the  Gospels,  and 
the  other  a  thurible.  No 
less  significant  historically, 
and  archaeologically,  is  the 
mosaic  on  the  opposite  wall, 
on  which  Theodora,  Jus- 
tinian's consort,  brings  her 
votive  offering  in  the  form 
of  a  large  chalice  {scypkus),  also  adorned  with  precious  stones. 
She  is  in  the  act  of  entering  the  church  from  the  atrium,  of 
which  we  see  the  cantharus,  with  its  gushing  water,  whilst  a 
cleric  raises  the  curtain  at  the  entrance.2 

It  is  worth  while  glancing  at  a  few  of  the  earliest  votive-gifts 
found  in  Rome,  some  of  which  are  still  in  existence,  as  their 

1  The  Emperor  has  a  round  nimbus  in  token  of  his  earthly  rank.  On  the  pallium 
worn  by  Archbishop  Maximian  (whose  name  appears  behind),  see  present  work,  vol.  ii. 
p.  295,  note  1.  On  the  vestments  of  the  clergy,  the  tunic,  dalmatic  (of  the  deacon), 
planet,  and  on  the  attire  of  the  courtiers,  see  Anal,  row.,  1,12,  No.  4-10.  On  the  shield 
borne  by  the  soldiers  to  the  left  is  the  monogram,  which  is,  however,  scarcely  discern- 
able  in  our  picture.  -^N 

2  Garrucci,  PI.  264.  In  Dahn,  Urgesch.,  1,  178,  326,  there  are  two  excellent  large- 
size  illustrations  of  the  scenes  with  Justinian  and  with  Theodora. 


111.  224. — A  Portion  of  Heraclida's 
Votive  Offering. 


no.  523]      VOWS  AND  VOTIVE  OFFERINGS 


3°9 


inscriptions  afford  us  a  glimpse  into  a  manifestation  of  piety 
which  once  appealed  deeply  to  all  good  Christians. 

In  the  garden  near  SS.  Silvestro  e  Martino  was  found,  in 
1632,  a  silver  pendant,  shaped  like  a  basket,  on  which  was  the 
inscription  "  To  St.  Silvester,  his  maid  fulfils  her  vow,"  proving 
it  to  be  a  gift  offered  at  the  shrine  of  Pope  Silvester.  It  is  note- 
worthy that  the  donor  called  herself  the  servant  {ancilld)  of  the 
Saint.  The  offering,  of  fine  filigree  work,  was  a  gabata,  to  hold 
lights,  and  must  belong  to  about  the  fifth  century.  From  the 
same  period  comes  a  chalice  found  near  Rome  with  the  inscription  : 
"  I  asked  and  I  received,  I 

have  performed  my  vow."  Wfi 
In  our  illustration  224,  we 
show  what  now  remains  of 
another  votive  crift  offered 

O 

by  a  certain  Bishop  Hera' 
clida — perhaps  a  Roman 
pilgrim — to  some  sanctuary 
in  or  near  Rome.  It  prob- 
ably belongs  to  the  fourth 
century,  and  consists  of  a 


111.  22v — Votive  Offering  of  Zenovius. 


bronze  tablet  haneine  on  a 
chain.  Upon  it  is  written 
in  silver  letters,  "  Hera- 
clida,  Bishop  and  servant 
of  God  made  [the  gift]."  1 

The  bronze  tablet  of  an- 
other votive  offering,  rich 
in  gold  and  precious  stones,  has  also  defied  time.  It  hails  from 
Carnuntum  in  northern  Pannonia,  was  perhaps  brought  to  Rome 
about  the  same  time,  and  has  a  metrical  inscription.  It  tells  us 
in  two  distichs  that  the  people  of  Carnuntum  have  sent  the  gift 
to  the  "  sublime  tables  "— i.e.  to  the  altars— and  that  the  name  of 
the  venerable  Mandronius  (the  bearer)  should  be  accounted  of  more 


1  On  the  gabata  of  St.  Silvester,  see  present  work,  vol.  ii.  p.  166,  note  3.  The 
inscription  runs  :  ~p  SANCTO  SILVESTKIO  ANCILLA  SVA  VOTVM  SOLVIT. 
The  chalice  with  the  inscription^.  PETIBI  ET  ACCIPI  VOTVM  SOLVI  is  quoted 
by  de  Rossi,  Bull.  arch,  crisl.,  1872,  p.  38,  from  Mai,  Scriptoruvi  veterum  biblioth.,  5, 
p.  198,  1.  The  bronze  tablet,  now  the  property  of  Count  Basilewski,  is  figured  in  DE 
Rossi,  ibid.,  1871,  p.  65  ff.,  and  PI.  V.,  n.  1. 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  524 


value  than  gold  or  gems.  Mandronius  was  no  doubt  the  Bishop  of 
this  distant  region.  Judging  by  the  remains,  it  would  seem  that  a 
gabata  or  chandelier  originally  hung  from  the  tablet.  In  connection 
with  this  offering,  sent  from  a  spot  which  is  now  in  Hungary,  an  early 
Christian  votive  gift  found  in  Transylvania,  and  described  by  de 
Rossi,  may  be  mentioned.  It,  too,  is  a  metal  tablet,  to  which  some 
article,  most  probably  a  lamp,  hung  by  means  of  a  pierced  mono- 
gram of  Christ.  It  bears  the  simple  inscription  :  "  I,  Zenovius, 
have  fulfilled  my  vow"  (111.  225). 1 

524.  The  Roman  soil  has  yielded  many  a  marble  votive 
inscription.  They  are  not  always  so  explicit  as  that  of  the  sixth 
century,  which  may  still  be  read  in  the  Basilica  of  St.  Peter 
ad  Vincula,  where  the  donor,  Severus  the  presbyter  a  vinculis 
sancti  Petri,  modestly  intimates  that  the  frame  of  his  offering, 
of  which  we  know  nothing,  is  made  of  cedar-wood.  These  texts 
on  marble  sometimes  give  us  no  inkling  of  the  character  of  the 
offering.  Frequently  the  donors  may  simply  have  given  money 
towards  the  expense  of  building  or  decorating  some  part  of  the 
church.2 

About  the  year  1869  a  marble  inscription  was  unearthed  near 
the  now  demolished  church  of  Sta.  Bonosa,  in  the  Trastevere, 
which  speaks  of  a  donation  given  by  a  certain  Deusdedit  to  an 
unnamed  "holy  place."  Might  this  holy  place  have  been  the 
house  of  Bonosa,  transformed  into  an  Oratory  ?  At  any  rate  the 
house  of  this  pious  Roman  lady  is  thought  to  have  stood  on  this 
site.  The  inscription,  belonging  to  the  fifth  or  sixth  century, 
would  be  a  very  important  witness  for  the  traditions  associated 
with  the  church  of  Sta.  Bonosa,  if  it  really  belonged  to  the  spot 
where  it  was  found,  but  unfortunately  this  is  by  no  means  certain. 
Many  inscriptions,  and  countless  other  marble  remains,  have 
travelled  far  before  reaching  the  spot  where  they  were  found  in 
modern  times.    One  peculiarity  of  this  votive  tablet  is  the  palm 

1  Votive  offering  of  Carnuntum  (Petronella),  in  de  Rossi,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1877, 
p.  12  ff.  A  small  figure  of  the  tablet,  now  in  the  Lateran  Museum,  in  Triplice  omaggio, 
&c,  PI.  1,  n.  10.  The  inscription  as  completed  by  de  Rossi  runs:  "[Quo]d  gens  Car- 
nuntum  m[ensz's]  sublimibus  offert,  \  \_N\on  auro  aut  gemmis  sit  ca\_rum\,  at  titulo.  \ 
[Na//i]  quod  Mandroni  venerando  nomine  fidget  \  Mains  ydaspeo  munere  suspiciturP 
The  inscription  from  Transylvania,  EGO  ZENOVIVS  VOTVM  POSVI,  in  de  Rossi, 
ibid.,  1871,  p.  66,  with  PI.  VI.,  n.  1  ;  1891,  p.  143,  with  PI.  IX. 

2  The  above  quoted  inscription  from  S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli  in  my  Anal,  rom.,  I,  152, 
with  PI.  2  (n.  3),  concludes  :  VRBICLVS  CEDRINVS  EST. 


no.  524]     VOWS  AND  VOTIVE  OFFERINGS  311 


branch,  symbolising  triumph  and  joy,  set  near  the  word  feliciter, 
which  here  signifies  either  the  happy  fulfilment  of  the  vow,  or  the 
attainment  of  the  object  desired.1 

Among  the  Papal  votive  offerings  we  must  mention  the  dona- 
tion of  Pelagius  II.  to  St.  Peter's.  It  consisted  of  a  chandelier,  or 
other  ornament  in  costly  metal  for  the  Altar  of  the  Apostle,  and  its 
metrical  inscription  was  copied  there  in  the  ninth  century.  From 
the  wording  of  the  latter  it  appears  that  it  was  a  solemn  votive 
offering  from  the  Pope  "and  the  faithful  people"  for  the  health 
of  the  Emperor  Mauritius  and  his  son,  especially  to  obtain  a  happy 
reign,  undisturbed  by  war.  We  feel  ourselves  carried  back  to  the 
horrors  of  the  Lombard  War,  when  we  read  in  the  verses  the 
prayer  that  Peter  by  his  might  may  everywhere  rout  the  foe. 
Among  royal  gifts,  we  have  already  mentioned  the  corona  set  with 
gems  sent  to  St.  Peter's  by  Chlodovec,  the  converted  King  of  the 
Franks  ;  also  the  rich  gifts  to  the  same  shrine  of  Theodoric  and 
of  Justinian  I.,  as  well  as  the  gold  cross  of  the  Emperor  Justin  II. 
(vol.  ii.,  111.  131),  still  preserved  in  the  Vatican  Basilica.  In  the 
similar  collection  of  valuables  preserved  in  the  Lateran  church 
were,  among  other  treasures,  the  cymelia  episcopii,  of  which  we 
hear  under  Pope  Severinus.2 

The  text  of  an  Imperial  votive  inscription  of  the  fifth  century 
in  San  Pietro  in  Vincoli  has  also  come  down  to  us,  in  which 
Theodosius  the  Younger,  Eudocia,  her  husband,  and  also 
Eudoxia  testify  that  they  have  fulfilled  their  vow.  We  also 
know  the  votive  inscription  placed  in  425  by  Placidia,  her  son 
Valentinian  III.,  and  her  daughter  Honoria  in  the  Roman 
Church  of  the  Holy  Cross  ("in  Jerusalem  ").  The  most  remark- 
able of  all  these  inscriptions  is,  however,  a  tablet  of  Palombino 
marble  with  a  bas-relief  of  the  fourth  century.  The  relief  displays 
a  female  figure  with  open  book  between  two  Saints  or  Apostles. 
She  seems  to  represent  the  unknown  Saint  to  whom  the  gift  was 
dedicated,  probably  a  Roman  Saint,  since  the  stone  was  found 

1  De  Rossi,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1870,  p,  33,  with  PI.  III.,  n.  3.  The  faulty  inscription 
savs  briefly:  EGO  DEVSDEDET  AMATOR  LOCI  SANTI  BOTVM  FECIT 
FELICITER. 

2  On  Pelagius  II.,  seeDE  Rossi,  Inscr.  christ.  urbis  Roma,  2,  1,  p.  145.  Duchesne, 
Liber  pont.,  1,  310.  The  donor  prays  :  "  Ut  roniana  manu  coelesti  sceptra  regatitur  \  Sit 
quorum  imperio  libera  vera  fides  .  .  .  Hostibus  ut  domitis  Petri  virtute  per  orbcm  \ 
Gentibus  ac  populis  pax  sit  et  ista  (?)  fides."  On  Chlodovec  and  Theodoric,  see  present 
work,  vol.  ii.  p.  252.  On  Justinian  I.,  ibid.  On  Justin  II.,  ibid.,  p.  169  f.  "Cymelia 
episcopii"  Liber  pont.,  1,  328,  n.  122. 


3I2 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  525 


in  Rome.  The  inscription  merely  says :  "  Ligurius  has  per- 
formed his  vow,"  VOTVM  SOLVIT.1 

525.  So  common  is  the  formula  VOTVM  SOLVIT,  that  it 
is  found  in  all  the  three  votive  inscriptions  in  prose  which  have 
come  to  us  from  the  Vatican  Basilica  through  copies  in  the 
early  pilgrim  guide-books. 

As  all  know,  vows  were  already  in  use  among  the  heathen, 
and  this  very  formula,  VOTVM  SOLVIT,  appears  on  many 
heathen  inscriptions.  MAXIMIANVS  VOTVM  SOLVIT, 
for  instance,  stands  beneath  a  representation  of  Diana  with  her 
dog,  preserved  in  Vienna.  We  have  even  inscriptions  recording 
heathen  vows  in  full.  For  instance,  the  god  would  be  told  :  "  If 
thou  wilt  protect  the  people  of  the  Ouirites,  and  grant  prosperity 
to  the  house  of  Augustus,  we  vow  to  offer  thee  .  .  ." 2 

From  Theodoret  we  learn  that,  even  in  his  day,  Christian 
sanctuaries  were  wont  to  receive,  among  other  votive  offerings, 
models  of  different  parts  of  the  human  frame,  for  the  healing  of 
which  a  person  now  returned  thanks.  The  same  custom  also 
obtained  among  the  heathen,  and  was  there  carried  to  extremes. 
In  and  near  Rome,  between  the  years  1876  and  1889,  during 
that  busy  period  of  building,  no  less  than  five  different  heaps 
of  Pagan  votive  figures  were  discovered.  They  were  found  near 
temples  particularly  revered  by  the  superstitious,  usually  in 
certain  substructures  or  vaults,  the  so-called  favissae,  where  such 
objects  were  stored  when  the  walls  of  the  temple  became  over- 
crowded. Among  many  small  clay  figures  representing  the 
deities  worshipped  were  hundreds  of  imitations  of  the  various 
members  of  the  human  body,  some  of  which,  though  interesting 
from  a  medical  point  of  view,  might  have  been  objected  to  on 
the  score  of  public  decency.3 

1  The  inscription  by  Theodosius,  Sec,  is  in  de  Rossi,  Bull.  arch,  crisl.,  1872,  p.  37  : 
"  Tlicodosins  pater,  Eudocia  cum  coniuge  votum  \  Ciimque  suo  supple x  Eudoxia  nomine 
solvit.'"  The  inscription  of  Placidia,  &o,  in  DE  Rossi,  Inscr.  christ.,  2,  1,  p.  435,  n.  107  : 
"  Reges  terrae  et  otnnes  populi,  principes  et  o nines  iudiccs  terrae  laudent  nomen  Domini. 
Sanctae  ecclesiae  Hierusalem  Valcntinianus,  Placidia  et  Honoria  Augusti,  votum  sol- 
verunt"  The  Palombino  bas-relief,  in  de  Rossi,  Bull.  arch,  crist.,  1872,  p.  36  ff.,  with 
PI.  1.    Inscription  :  LYGYRIVS  VOTVM  SOLVIT. 

2  Maximian's  inscription,  in  the  Vienna  Cabinet  of  Coins  and  Antiques,  in  de 
Rossi,  ibid.  Such  vows  are  found  among  the  Arval  inscriptions,  e.g.  Corp.  inscr.  lat., 
VI.,  n.  2025. 

3  Theodoret  (Sermo  8  de  martyribus)  mentions  eyes,  feet,  and  hands  in  gold  and 
silver.  On  the  favissae  and  their  contents,  cp.  Lanciani,  Pagan  and  Christian  Rome, 
p.  58  ff.,  who  was  present  when  they  were  brought  to  light. 


no.  525]         PAGAN  VOTIVE  OFFERINGS  313 


In  1876  one  of  these  favissae  was  opened  on  the  site  of  the 
former  Temple  of  Hercules,  in  the  present  cemetery  of  the  Cam- 
ptis  Veranus ;  in  1885  a  second  was  exhumed  beneath  the  former 
Temple  of  Diana  on  the  lake  of  Nemi,  in  the  celebrated 
Artemismm  Nemoi'ense.  The  third  collection,  consisting  of  whole 
strata  of  similar  Pagan  votive  gifts,  came  to  light  during  the 
river  improvements  in  1886,  on  both  sides  of  the  Tiber  Island  ; 
they  hailed  from  the  island  Temple  of  /Esculapius,  where  people 
were  wont  to  seek  cure  through  dreams.  In  this  case,  instead 
of  being  stored  in  vaults,  they  had  been  sunk  in  the  river  on 
each  side  of  the  tiny  island.1 

Another  heap  of  curious  votive  objects  was  yielded  in  1887 
by  the  quondam  Temple  of  Minerva  Medica — not  the  majestic 
structure  miscalled  by  this  name  still  existing  in  the  ancient 
Licinian  gardens,  but  a  smaller  temple,  long  since  destroyed,  to 
this  goddess,  named  in  Greek  Athene  Hygieine,  which  once 
stood  at  the  junction  of  the  Via  Merulana  with  the  street  anciently 
called  after  Minerva  Medica.  The  Pagan  Romans  resorted  to 
it,  amongst  other  things,  to  promote  the  growth  of  their  hair, 
and  Minerva's  hair-restoring  power  meets  with  due  recognition 
in  the  grateful  inscriptions  of  the  votive  tablets  preserved. 
Lastly,  in  the  Temple  of  Juno,  at  Veji,  in  1889,  new  discoveries 
began  of  similar  small  votive  offerings  at  a  spot  where  even 
under  Alexander  VII.  excavations  had  been  carried  out  with 
conspicuous  success.  As  regards  the  situation  of  the  building, 
recent  investigations  have  proved  that  the  temple  stood  on  the 
citadel  of  the  ancient  Veientines.2 

It  is  surprising  to  find  votive  inscriptions  upon  heathen  lamps 
in  bronze  or  precious  metal,  which  show  that  the  gift  was 
intended  to  burn  before  the  statue  or  shrine  of  some  god  in 
gratitude  for  blessings  received,  just  as  we  are  accustomed  to 
see  lights  burning  before  Christian  pictures  or  shrines.  The 
heathen  even  placed  lights  in  the  public  streets  to  the  honour 
of  their  gods.    Walking  at  night  through  the  City  of  Rome  in 

1  The  actual  spot  of  the  Campus  Veranus  is  at  the  so-called  Pincietto,  below  which 
is  the  Cemetery  of  Cyriaca.  The  inscription  on  an  ara  there  is  in  Corp.  inscr.  /at.,  VI., 
n.  1503.  In  the  Temple  of  Diana,  overlooking  the  Lake  of  Nemi,  at  the  spot  known  as 
Le  Mole,  excavations  were  proceeding  with  good  results  even  lately.  On  the  Tiber  Isle, 
sacred  to  .Esculapius,  remains  are  still  to  be  seen  of  the  boat-shaped  enclosure  given  in 
antiquity  to  the  whole.  They  are  found  at  the  back,  and  may  be  identified  by  the  bull's 
head  and  the  snake. 

2  Veji,  near  I  sola. 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  526 


Pagan  times,  we  should  have  noticed  at  every  cross-road  the  little 
temples  or  acdiculae,  each  with  its  lights,  which  were  dedicated 
to  the  Lares  Compitales,  the  titular  deities  of  the  public  roads. 
These  little  temples,  from  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Augustus, 
who  favoured  them  in  the  improvements  he  carried  out  in  the 
City,  were  twice  a  year  decked  with  flowers,  yet  another  custom 
resembling  the  Christian  one  of  adorning  at  certain  seasons  the 
chapels  or  sacred  statues  in  the  streets  or  squares  with  floral 
tributes. 

526.  After  what  we  have  already  had  occasion  to  say  else- 
where, it  is  superfluous  to  observe  that  such  agreement  in  no  way 
justifies  any  criticism  of  Catholic  customs.  On  the  contrary,  in 
the  observances,  both  of  heathen  and  Christian,  we  can  only  re- 
cognise the  perfectly  legitimate  and  reasonable  desire  of  mankind 
to  honour  the  supreme  and  invisible  Being  by  the  symbolism  of 
offerings  and  adornments  from  the  visible  world. 

Such  outward  correspondence  with  the  customs  of  ancient 
Pagan  Rome  only  serve  to  demonstrate  anew  the  catholicity  of 
Christian  Rome,  and  to  make  yet  clearer  that,  besides  being 
Divine,  the  New  Religion  was  also  essentially  human. 

The  deep  abyss  which  y^lwned  between  both  creeds  was 
perceptible  to  all,  and  the  solemn  services  which  we  are  now 
about  to  study  clearly  impressed  all  concerned  with  the  eleva- 
tion and  profoundness  of  the  New  Faith  as  opposed  to  the 
folly  which  had  hitherto  held  the  world  in  thrall.  We  allude 
to  the  ceremony  of  initiation  by  which  heathen  converts  were 
admitted  into  the  family  of  the  Faithful  and  into  the  mysteries 
of  Christianity.  No  greater  contrast  could  be  imagined  than 
that  existing  between  the  already  described  ceremony  of 
admission  into  the  once  most  popular  form  of  idolatry,  i.e.  the 
religion  of  Mithra,1  and  the  manner  in  which  fresh  converts 
were  received  into  the  bosom  of  the  Church.  It  will  be  an 
appropriate  conclusion  to  our  brief  review  of  certain  phases  of 
the  liturgy  and  religious  life  of  Rome  to  dwell  a  little  on  the 
preliminaries  of  Baptism  and  its  solemn  administration.  The 
"Close  of  the  Ancient  World"  with  which  this  book  deals,  is,  so 
to  speak,  focussed  here.  It  is  the  transition  from  an  expiring 
world  to  a  world  born  anew,  from  death  to  life,  the  "  transitus 


1  See  above,  p.  1 14  ff. 


No.  527] 


THE  CATECHUMENS 


maris  rubri"  as  the  early  Liturgy  called  it,  from  the  Egyptian 
bondage  of  olden  time  to  the  freedom  of  the  redeemed  children  of 
God,  a  transition  effected,  not  by  a  filthy  baptism  in  blood,  but 
by  a  new  birth  through  the  Spirit. 

The  Admission  into  the  Church  of  Converts  from  Paganism 
(Initiatio  Christiana) — Preparation  for  Baptism 

527.  The  Catechumenate  in  the  sixth  century  was  no  longer 
organised  as  it  had  been  in  an  earlier  age.  The  circumstance 
that  there  were  no  longer  so  many  adult  converts  as  at  first, 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  far  greater  number  of  children  brought 
into  the  Church  by  Baptism,  involved  an  alteration  of  the  ancient 
rules  regarding  preparation  for  Baptism.  In  spite  of  this  the 
customs  observed  even  then  bore  the  stamp  of  a  most  venerable 
antiquity,  and  were  both  complex  and  profoundly  significant. 

They  are  principally  known  to  us  through  the  seventh  Roman 
"  Ordo,"  i.e.  the  so-called  Rule  of  Scrutiny  of  the  Roman  Church, 
which  also  contains  information  regarding  the  solemn  Easter 
Baptism.  This  Ordo  belongs,  in  its  main  features,  to  the  sixth 
century.1 

In  the  Gelasian  Sacramentary  we  possess,  moreover,  a  fifth- 
century  compilation  of  rubrics  and  prayers  which  had  probably 
been  but  little  changed  in  the  following  century.  In  the  so- 
called  Gregorian  Sacramentary,  on  the  contrary,  both  the  pre- 
paration and  the  actual  rite  of  Baptism,  in  comparison  with 
the  authorities  just  mentioned,  seem  revised  and  abbreviated  in 
the  manner  which  in  later  years  became  gradually  the  rule. 
In  what  follows  we  shall  therefore  be  justified  in  taking  our  stand 
on  the  Ordo,  and  on  the  so-called  Sacramentary  of  Gelasius, 
since,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  dubious  passages,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  they  belong  at  least  to  the  sixth  century.2 

The  first  Scrutinium,  or  the  first  gathering  of  the  candidates 
for  Baptism,  was  held  on  Wednesday  in  the  third  week  of  Lent. 
After  this  there  were  five  other  Scrutinies  at  fixed  intervals,  the 

1  Ordo  VII.  rotnanus,  in  Mabillon,  Mus.  ItaL,  1,  77  ff.,  and  reprinted  in  P.L., 
LXXVIII.,  993  ff.  It  has  been  commented  upon  and  accurately  dated  by  Probst,  Die 
Sacramentarien  unci  Ordines,  p.  401  ff. 

2  On  the  great  value  and  antiquity  of  those  portions  of  the  Gelasian  Sacramentary 
which  relate  to  Baptism,  see  Probst,  ibid.,  especially  p.  218  ff.  Cp.  the  account  in 
Duchesne,  Origines  die  culte2,  p.  281  ff. ;  U  initiation  chrctienne. 


3i6  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  527 


last  being  on  Holy  Saturday,  i.e.  the  Vigil  of  Easter.  These 
meetings  were  termed  Scrutinies  on  account  of  the  examination 
of  the  grown-up  candidates,  for  whom  indeed  they  were  instituted. 
When  occasion  arose,  others  of  the  Faithful  might  then  give  their 
views  as  to  the  advisability  of  admitting  the  candidates.  The  cate- 
chumens themselves,  or  their  godparents,  were,  however,  obliged 
to  attend  the  instructions  and  give  an  account  of  their  Faith. 

At  all  the  Scrutinies,  sermons  on  Christian  doctrine  were 
preached  to  the  elder  catechumens.  Splendid  examples  of  the 
instructions  given  on  such  occasions  are  found  in  the  famous 
Catecheses  of  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  and  in  the  Homilies  of  St. 
Augustine,  entitled  "  Ad  competentesT  The  competentes  or  electi 
("aspirants"  or  "chosen  ones")  were  the  candidates  for  Baptism, 
so  soon  as  they  had  been  ceremoniously  admitted  among  the 
number  of  the  catechumens. 

In  Rome,  in  the  sixth  century,  the  solemn  formality  of  admis- 
sion took  place  at  the  first  Scrutiny. 

The  meeting  was  announced  to  the  public  two  days  before- 
hand, viz.  at  the  Station  on  the  Monday  after  the  third  Sunday 
in  Lent.  The  words  then  used  conveyed  to  the  Faithful  an 
invitation  to  be  present  "  at  the  Heavenly  Mystery,  by  which 
the  Evil  One  and  the  spirit  of  the  world  are  overcome,  and  the 
Gates  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  thrown  open."  1 

At  the  actual  meeting,  which  was  held  in  a  Basilica,  an  acolyth 
first  took  the  names  both  of  those  who  offered  themselves  for 
Baptism  and  of  those  prepared  to  act  as  sponsors  (patrini)  to  the 
various  candidates.  He  then  placed  the  candidates  in  rows,  the 
men  on  the  right  and  the  women  on  the  left,  again  reading  their 
names  aloud.  The  priest  then  came  forward,  breathed  upon  the 
face  of  each — following  the  example  of  Christ  who  had  breathed 
upon  His  Apostles  to  symbolise  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost — 
and  then  made  the  sign  of  the  Cross  upon  their  foreheads  with 
his  thumb.  This  done,  he  stretched  his  hand  over  their  heads 
and  said  the  prayer,  which  in  the  Gelasian  Sacramentary  is 
entitled  Ad  catechumenum  faciendum. 

There  then  followed  the  symbolic  ceremony  of  the  Salt,  one 
peculiar  to  the  Roman  rite.  The  priest  first  exorcised  the 
salt,  and  then  placed  a  pinch  in  the  mouth  of  each  candidate, 


1  Sacramentai-ium  Gelasiamim,  i,  n.  29.    Ordo  VII.  romamts,  n.  1. 


no.  527]  THE  FIRST  EXORCISM 


the  accompanying  words  signifying  that  the  salt  is  a  sign  of 
heavenly  wisdom. 

In  the  sixth  century,  John  the  Deacon,  in  an  epistle  to  a 
certain  noble  named  Senarius,  who  had  requested  information 
regarding  the  customs  prevailing  in  Rome  during  preparation 
for  Baptism,  says  of  the  ceremony  of  the  breathing  and  of  the 
salt:  "The  breathing  upon  takes  place  to  give  the  Evil  Spirit 
notice  that  he  is  to  be  evicted  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to 
prepare  for  the  entry  of  Christ  our  God.  The  unbaptized 
person  is  a  dwelling-place  of  Satan  ;  he  must  become  the  abode 
of  our  Saviour.  Against  the  Evil  One,  now  doomed,  a  mere 
breath  is  deemed  sufficient,  for  that  is  all  the  old  rebel  against 
God  deserves.  Salt,"  he  continues,  "  serves  in  the  natural  order 
of  things  to  season  and  preserve  flesh.  We,  too,  season  the 
spirit  of  the  neophyte  with  the  blest  salt  of  wisdom  and  the 
teaching  of  the  Word  of  God,  that  he  may  gain  fortitude  and 
health  against  the  corruption  of  the  earthly  spirit."  1 

After  having  received  the  priest's  blessing,  the  new  electi 
withdrew  to  the  places  appointed  for  them  near  the  entrance  of 
the  Basilica. 

Mass  then  began,  according  to  the  Proper  for  the  occasion. 
This  Mass  of  the  Scrutiny,  which  we  still  have,  contains  special 
prayers  for  the  newly-enrolled  catechumens. 

After  the  Collect,  however,  and  before  the  Lessons,  the 
deacon  cried  :  "  Let  the  catechumens  approach."  They  advanced, 
and,  after  their  names  had  again  been  called,  they  were  placed  to 
the  right  and  left  of  the  predella  occupied  by  the  priest,  that 
they  might  be  formally  exorcised.  This  proceeding  began  with 
another  order  from  the  deacon  :  "  Pray,  ye  chosen  ones,  bend 
your  knees."  They  knelt  and  prayed  in  silence.  Again  the  words 
rang  out :  "  Arise,  complete  your  prayer  in  unison,  and  say 
Amen."  The  Flectanms  gemia  and  Levate  is  still  repeatedly 
heard,  even  in  the  Catholic  Liturgy  of  the  present  day,  where 
it  tellingly  reminds  us  of  customs  of  earliest  ages. 

The  catechumens,  by  order  of  the  deacon,  were  further  marked 
with  the  Sign  of  the  Cross  on  their  foreheads  by  their  godfathers 
and  godmothers,  and  then  exorcised,  one  after  the  other,  by  three 
acolyths  (originally  by  exorcists).    Each  of  these  made  the  Sign 


1  Ep.  ad  Senarium,  n.  3  ;  P.L.,  LIX.,  402. 


3*8 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  527 


of  the  Cross  and  imposed  his  hand  upon  the  neophytes,  reciting 
meanwhile  the  formula  of  exorcism,  in  which  Satan,  who  is  pre- 
sumed to  reign  in  the  soul  yet  entangled  in  original  sin,  is  ordered 
"  for  the  future  to  have  nothing  in  common  with  the  servants  of 
God,  who  are  resolved  to  turn  their  backs  upon  his  kingdom," 
but  to  hand  them  over  to  the  Redeemer  of  the  World.  "  The 
God  of  Angels  and  of  Archangels,  the  God  of  the  Prophets  and 
Martyrs"  is  implored  to  guide  the  catechumens  to  the  grace  of 
Baptism.  Peter,  in  the  midst  of  the  storm,  walking  over  the  sea 
to  Christ ;  Susanna  delivered  from  the  hands  of  her  calumniators, 
are  the  types  to  which  the  Church,  in  these  fine  and  vigorous  prayers 
of  antiquity,  refers  the  catechumens,  that  they  may  take  courage 
by  reflecting  upon  them.  There  was  then  again  a  spell  of  silent 
prayer,  commenced  and  terminated  at  the  deacon's  command, 
after  which  the  priest  again  made  the  Sign  of  the  Cross  over 
the  neophytes,  and  gave  them  his  blessing.  There  followed  the 
Lessons  of  the  Mass.  The  deacon  then  cried  :  "  Let  the  cate- 
chumens depart,"  repeating  the  formula,  with  slight  variations, 
a  second  and  a  third  time.1 

The  crowd  of  candidates,  obedient  to  the  command,  retired  to 
the  so-called  narthex  of  the  church,  and  the  Mass  proceeded. 
As  yet  they  were  not  entitled  to  take  any  direct  part  in  the 
mysteries  of  the  altar.  Their  relatives,  or  sponsors  on  their 
behalf,  during  the  sacrifice,  offered  the  usual  oblations,  in  the 
shape  of  bread  and  wine,  which  were  placed  on  the  high  altar 
or  on  one  of  the  auxiliary  tables.  At  the  Memento,  before  the 
Consecration,  the  names  of  the  godfathers  and  godmothers  were 
rehearsed,  with  a  prayer  to  God  to  be  mindful  of  them.  At  the 
Heme  igitur  those  of  the  catechumens  were  also  recited,  with  a 
petition  appropriate  to  their  state. 

At  the  end  of  the  Mass  all  present  communicated,  except  the 
catechumens,  who,  so  far,  had  not  been  formally  initiated  into  the 
mysteries.  The  mention  of  this  Communion  "of  all"  the  Faithful, 
found  in  the  Seventh  Ordo,  is  a  relic  of  much  earlier  days  ;  in  the 
sixth  century  such  general  Communions  had  already  become 
exceptional.2 

1  "  Catechnmeni  recedant.  Si  quis  catechumenus  est,  recedat.  Omnes  catechumeni 
exeant foras."    Ordo  VII.,  n.  3. 

2  "  Post  fi?iita  vero  missarum  solemnia  communicent  omnes  practer  ipsos  infantes!' 
Ibid.  Cp.  PROBST,  Die  Sacramentarien,  p.  411.  "Infantes"  as  is  well  known,  was  the 
general  name  for  neophytes,  including  even  grown-up  people. 


no.  528]  THE  TRADITIO  SYMBOLI  319 

528.  The  second,  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  Scrutinies  were 
celebrated  in  the  same  manner,  but  the  third  Scrutinium  had 
a  character  of  its  own. 

At  this  third  assembly  took  place  the  bestowal  ( Traditio)  of 
the  Creed,  of  the  Gospels,  and  of  the  Lord's  Prayer.  The  cere- 
mony was  called  the  "  Introduction  to  the  Law,"  or  also  the 
"Opening  of  the  ears"  (aperitio  aurium). 

After  the  exorcisms  already  described  had  been  repeated, 
the  Mass  proceeded  in  the  presence  of  the  neophytes.  Excerpts 
from  the  prophet  Isaias  and  from  the  epistles  of  St.  Paul,  bearing 
on  the  ceremony,  were  read.  Then  four  deacons,  each  bearing  a 
book  of  the  Gospels,  advanced  to  the  altar.  They  were  accom- 
panied— as  at  the  present  day  the  deacon  is  when  he  sings  the 
Gospel — by  a  thurifer,  boat-bearer,  and  two  candle-bearers. 
They  placed  the  four  Gospels  upon  the  four  corners  of  the 
altar,  which  was  isolated.  The  priest  then  read  an  address  to 
the  neophytes  from  the  book  of  the  Liturgy,  telling  them  how 
the  Gospel  is  being  revealed  to  them,  and  explaining  what  is 
meant  by  the  sacred  name  of  Gospel  or  Good  Tidings. 

After  this  the  first  deacon  read  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel 
according  to  St.  Matthew,  which  the  priest  then  expounded, 
showing  how  this  Evangelist  was  usually  figured  as  a  man, 
"  because,  at  the  beginning  of  his  Gospel,  he  describes  in  detail 
the  human  descent  of  Christ." 

The  same  thing  happened  with  the  three  other  Gospels  ;  after 
the  commencement  of  each  had  been  read  aloud  by  one  of  the 
deacons,  the  meaning  of  the  symbol  bestowed  on  its  writer 
was  explained  by  the  priest.  Mark  was  the  lion,  because,  at 
the  beginning  of  his  Gospel,  he  speaks  of  the  voice  in  the 
wilderness  ;  Luke  was  the  sacrificial  ox,  because  he  records 
the  sacrifice  of  Zachary  at  the  outset  ;  finally,  John  is  the 
eagle,  because,  at  the  beginning  of  his  Gospel,  he  soars  to 
the  highest  among  the  mysteries,  and  proclaims  the  incarnation 
of  the  Word  of  God. 

Even  then  these  four  symbols  of  the  Evangelists  were 
frequently  alluded  to  by  ecclesiastical  writers,  and  made  use 
of  by  Christian  artists. 

The  real  reason  why  these  symbols  were  chosen  is  pointed 
out  in  a  passage  from  one  of  the  priest's  addresses,  where,  it  is 
said,  that  in  the  prophecy  of  Ezechiel  the  four  living  creatures 


320 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[NO.  528 


seen  by  the  prophet  about  the  chariot  of  the  cherubim — the  man, 
the  lion,  the  ox,  and  the  eagle — were  types  of  the  Evangelists.1 

After  this  general  introduction  to  the  Gospels,  which,  doubt- 
less, was  supplemented  by  the  priest,  the  formal  profession  of 
Faith  was  read  to  the  neophytes. 

The  priest,  in  an  introductory  discourse,  extolled  the  symbol 
or  Creed  they  were  "  accepting"  ;  it  was  inspired  of  God,  taught 
by  the  Apostles,  briefly  worded,  indeed,  but  abounding  in  mys- 
teries. The  "  Bestowal "  of  the  Creed  took  place  separately, 
once  for  the  Greeks  who  happened  to  be  present,  and  a  second 
time  for  the  Latins.  In  the  period  when  the  Byzantines  ruled 
Rome,  the  candidates  usually  stood  divided  into  groups,  according 
to  their  language,  Greek  or  Latin.  An  acolyth  accordingly  took 
a  Greek  boy  in  his  arms,  and  the  priest  put  to  the  bearer  and 
the  group  he  represented  the  question  :  "In  what  tongue  do  these 
confess  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ?"  The  acolyth  replied:  "In 
Greek,"  whereupon  the  priest  said  :  "  Make  known  the  Faith,  as 
they  must  confess  it,"  and  the  acolyth,  in  a  loud  voice,  proceeded 
to  recite  the  Creed  in  Greek,  meanwhile  holding  his  hand  above 
the  boy's  head.  In  the  Gelasian  Sacramentary,  at  this  point,  we 
even  find  the  Creed  in  Greek,  though  written  in  Latin  char- 
acters, "  Pistevo  is  hena  theon  patera"  &c.  The  same  ceremony 
was  gone  through  by  the  acolyth  and  priest  with  a  Greek  girl. 

A  second  acolyth  did  the  same  for  the  Latins,  first  with  a 
boy,  and  then  with  a  girl,  reciting  over  them  the  Creed  in  Latin, 
after  the  formal  question  had  been  put :  "In  what  tongue  do  they 
confess  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ?  " 

Originally  the  formula  used  was  always  that  of  the  so-called 
Apostles'  Creed,  though  the  Gelasian  Sacramentary  and  the  Ordo, 
for  use  on  this  occasion,  both  give  the  Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan 
Creed  in  the  two  languages.  As,  however,  under  Pope  Leo  III. 
(795-816),  this  Creed  was  no  longer  in  use,  its  appearance  at  the 
baptismal  services  would  seem  to  have  been  quite  transitory. 
Perhaps  it  was  introduced  by  the  Popes,  at  the  time  of  the 
Byzantine  restoration,  out  of  regard  for  Constantinople.2 

1  Sacranientariuni  Gclasianum,  1,  n.  34  :  "  Expositio  evangeliorum  in  aurium  aperi- 
iionem  ad  electos."  Ez.  x.  14.  See  the  four  symbols,  e.g.  present  work,  vol.  ii.  p.  75,  and 
p.  118. 

2  One  must  note  that  the  Gelasian  Sacramentary  describes  its  Creed  as  "a  Domino 
inspiration,  apostolis  institution^  It  therefore  takes  for  granted  that  the  Apostles' 
Creed  is  the  one  being  used.  John  the  Deacon  (see  above,  p.  317,  note  1)  also  says 
(n.  4)  :  "  Symboli  ab  apostolis  traditi  iam  meretur  (catechumenus)  verba  suscipere." 


No.  529] 


THE  LAST  EXORCISM 


321 


In  a  concluding  discourse,  the  priest  repeated  in  different  words 
the  contents  of  the  Symbol,  and  advised  the  neophytes  to  commit 
it  to  memory,  that  with  this  weapon  in  their  hand  they  might,  as 
soldiers  of  Christ,  be  able  to  escape  the  snares  of  the  Evil  One. 

Upon  this  followed  the  third  short  ceremony  of  the  "  bestowal  " 
of  the  "  Lord's  Prayer."  Here,  too,  the  priest  explained  in  a  few 
words  the  value  of  this  prayer,  taught  us  by  "  God's  Word  and 
Wisdom,  Christ  the  Lord."  The  Lord's  Prayer  was  then  repeated 
aloud,  sentence  by  sentence,  a  short  exposition  of  its  meaning 
accompanying  each  petition. 

After  a  final  admonition  to  make  good  use  of  the  Mysteries  of 
Catholic  belief  now  entrusted  to  them  (with  the  Gospels,  the 
Creed,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer),  the  electi  withdrew.  They  now 
took  their  places  in  the  narthex  till  the  conclusion  of  the  Holy 
Sacrifice — at  which  again  offerings  were  made  on  their  behalf  by 
others — and  the  Communion  of  the  Faithful. 

529.  At  the  subsequent  Scrutinies  the  instructions  given  con- 
cerning the  truths  of  salvation  became  increasingly  full.  It  is  true 
our  authorities  say  nothing  of  any  such  instruction,  but  it  stands 
to  reason  that  it  took  place.  It  must  have  borne  particularly  on 
the  Holy  Eucharist,  which  was  to  be  received  at  the  baptismal 
ceremony.  Baptism  and  Communion  formed  the  culminating 
point  of  the  Christian  initiation.  For  this  reason  on  the  sarco- 
phagus of  the  City  Prefect,  Junius  Bassus,  who  died  as  a  neophyte 
(NEOFITVS  I  IT  AD  DEVM),  as  we  saw  elsewhere,  besides 
the  Sacrament  of  Baptism,  the  Mystery  of  the  Eucharist  was  also 
represented  by  symbolic  actions  carried  out  by  lambs.1  The  scene 
of  the  Giving  of  the  Law  to  a  Lamb  is  explained  by  the  ceremony 
just  described  of  the  bestowal  of  the  Gospel  at  the  third  Scrutiny. 
The  Scrutinies  were,  therefore,  repeated  for  further  instruction,  and 
had  to  be  seven  in  number,  that,  as  the  Ordo  says,  the  sevenfold 
gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  the  baptized  receive,  might  be 
thereby  expressed. 

On  the  day  before  Easter  took  place  the  last  exorcism  of 
the  neophytes — this  time  not  by  an  acolyth  as  before,  but  by  a 
priest.  This  ceremony  was  rendered  still  more  impressive  by  the 
Ephphetha.  While  the  candidates  were  drawn  up  as  usual  right 
and  left,  according  to  sex,  the  priest  signed  them  with  the  Cross, 

1  See  present  work,  vol.  ii.  p.  190,  and  111.  138. 
VOL.  III.  '  X 


322  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  529 


laid  his  hand  upon  them,  and  gave  notice  to  the  Evil  One  that  that 
very  day  he  would  have  to  quit,  once  for  all,  all  those  "  chosen  "  for 
Baptism,  since  Christ  enters  into  possession  of  them.  He  then 
touched  their  upper  lip  and  their  eyes  with  his  finger,  moistened 
with  spittle,  as  our  Saviour  touched  the  man  born  blind,  and  said  : 
"  '  Ephphetha,'  which  is,  being  interpreted,  'Open  to  an  odour  of 
sweetness.'  But  thou,  cursed  Devil,  take  to  flight,  for  the  judg- 
ment of  God  is  at  hand." 

Ceaselessly  indeed  did  the  Church  in  her  ceremonies  assail  the 
power  of  darkness  which  dominated  Pagan  society  and  had  been 
called  by  Christ  the  "  Prince  of  this  World,"  and  by  St.  John  the 
"great  dragon"  and  the  "old  serpent,"  who  "  seduceth  the  whole 
wrorld." 1 

Another  symbolic  act,  according  to  the  Gelasian  Sacramen- 
tary,  succeeded  the  Ephphetha  ;  the  neophytes  were  anointed  with 
blest  oil  on  the  breast  and  on  the  back.  This  was  in  imitation  of 
the  athletes,  who  were  also  smeared  with  oil  before  their  wrestling 
matches.  The  neophytes  were  also  compelled  to  walk  barefooted, 
again,  probably,  in  imitation  of  the  customary  procession  (Pompa)  of 
the  athletes  in  the  amphitheatre  ;  to  this  action  a  symbolic  meaning 
was,  however,  attached,  and  it  was  taken  as  showing — as  John 
the  Deacon  puts  it — that  the  newly  baptized  would  never  be 
deterred  by  the  dangers  or  difficulties  which  they  might  meet  on 
the  road  of  life.2 

But  they  were  expressly  reminded  of  the  spiritual  contest  for 
which  they  were  preparing  in  the  three  questions  addressed  to 
each:  "Dost  thou  renounce  Satan?  And  all  his  works?  And 
all  his  pomps?"  To  which  questions  the  answer  was:  'I  do 
renounce  them." 

After  this  the  neophyte  had,  as  the  expression  ran,  "  to  return  " 
the  Creed.  He  had  received  it  before  to  be  learnt  and  pondered, 
and  now  he  had  to  profess  it,  by  either  reciting  it  himself,  or 
having  it  repeated  for  him  by  others — the  latter  being  the  manner 
adopted  in  the  case  of  infants.  Having  done  .this,  they  all,  as 
before,  fell  upon  their  knees  in  response  to  the  deacon's  command, 
and,  after  a  silent  prayer  followed  by  an  Amen  chanted  in  common, 
were  dismissed  by  the  same  official. 

1  JOHN  xii.  31  :  " princeps  huius  mundi."    Apoc.  xii.  9. 

2  The  going  barefoot  is  not  mentioned  either  in  the  Ordo  or  in  the  Gelasian  Sacra- 
mentary  ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  recorded  by  Johannes  Diaconus,  whilst  pseudo  Augustine 
alludes  to  it  in  a  passage  quoted  below  (p.  323). 


no.  53i]  HOLY  SATURDAY  323 

530.  In  such  wise  were  the  solemn  and  mysterious  prelimi- 
naries completed,  by  which  the  Roman  Church  prepared  her  new 
members  to  be  born  anew  in  the  waters  of  Baptism. 

St.  Augustine,  in  a  fervent  and  impressive  sermon  to  his 
catechumens,  preached  long  before  in  Christian  Africa,  where 
Roman  customs  were  so  reverently  followed,  explains  the 
significance  of  many  of  the  ceremonies  just  described,  his  allu- 
sions showing  clearly  enough  that  the  rite  in  use  in  his  time 
coincided  in  the  main  with  that  found  later.1 

He  speaks  to  the  catechumens  of  the  exorcisms,  of  the  prayers 
and  chants  ;  of  the  breathing  upon,  of  the  hair-shirt,  the  prostra- 
tions, the  baring  of  the  feet,  and  the  various  other  practices  to 
which  they  had  submitted.  He  alludes  to  "the  holy  awe  which 
pervades  the  ceremony  and  raises  all  hearts,"  and  tells  the 
neophytes  that  they  will  find  therein  the  spiritual  food  with 
which  Mother  Church  nourishes  her  children  yet  unborn  while 
bearing  them  in  her  womb,  till  their  birth  on  the  great  feast. 
The  Church  is  the  woman  in  travail  of  the  Apocalypse,  whom 
the  dragon  awaits  to  devour  the  fruit  of  her  womb.  "  Arm  your- 
selves," cries  the  orator,  "with  the  Creed  of  Faith  solemnly 
bestowed  on  you,  by  means  of  which  the  Church,  your  Virgin 
Mother,  also  triumphantly  defends  herself.  Take  its  words  to 
your  heart,  whence  by  our  exorcisms  we  have  banished  the  Evil 
One  ;  remember  that  you  have  said  :  I  renounce  all  his  pomps, 
and  that  this  promise  made  was  not  merely  to  men,  but  to  God 
and  His  Angels,  and  was  entered,  so  to  speak,  in  the  books  of 
heaven." 


The  " Great  Night"  in  the  Lateran 

531.  The  solemn  Baptism  in  the  night  preceding  Easter — 
called  the  "Great  Night" — was  in  entire  harmony  with  the  great 
mystery  commemorated  in  that  festival.2 

1  De  symbolo  sertno  ad  catechumenos  (4),  1.  P.L.,  XL.,  659.  A  portion  of  his 
sermon  occurs  in  the  present  Roman  Breviary,  in  the  second  nocturn  of  the  Vigil  of 
Pentecost,  which  was  formerly  the  second  great  day  for  administering  Baptism.  [The 
author  has,  however,  apparently  overlooked  the  fact  that  this  homily  is  one  of  those 
struck  out  as  spurious  by  Dom  Morin.  See  Les  Lemons  apocryphes  du  Brdviaire  romain, 
in  Revue  Be'ne'd.,  1891,  p.  273  ff. — Ed.] 

2  Pope  Pelagius  I.  mentions  the  " nox  magna"  in  the  passage  quoted  above,  p.  276, 
note  1.  On  the  Holy  Saturday  service,  see  KELLNER,  Hcortology,  a  Hist,  of  the  Chris- 
tian Festivals  (Engl,  trans.,  p.  77  ff.). 


324 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  531 


On  the  feast  when  the  Church  sang  Alleluia,  rejoicing  in  the 
Resurrection  of  our  Saviour  and  the  promises  made  to  her,  she 
desired  the  newcomers  in  her  fold  to  share  in  the  new  birth  of 
the  Spirit  and  the  pledge  of  Salvation.  Even  to  this  day  the 
Liturgy  retains  the  trace  of  this  happy  combination.  As  of  old, 
the  Alleluia  still  resounds  on  Holy  Saturday,  and,  even  to-day, 
in  Rome  and  in  certain  other  cathedrals  of  the  Christian  world, 
the  newly  baptized  stand  around  the  altar  when  the  Paschal 
melodies  of  our  Lord's  greatest  festival  are  intoned. 

Apart  from  Easter,  the  only  other  day  specially  set  aside  for 
Baptism  was  Whitsun.  When  circumstances  required  it,  as, 
for  instance,  in  the  case  of  sickness,  the  sacrament  could  be 
administered  at  other  seasons  and  in  simpler  fashion  ;  but  on 
the  days  specially  assigned,  it  was  celebrated  with  great  pomp,  in 
Rome  by  the  Pope,  and,  elsewhere,  by  the  Bishop  of  the  locality. 

The  Easter  Baptism  attracted  crowds  of  Christian  Romans  to 
the  Lateran,  where  the  Papal  Station  was  held  that  same  day. 
On  no  other  day  or  night  were  so  many  people  gathered  together 
in  the  Lateran  Basilica  as  during  the  ceremonials  of  the  Vigil, 
the  Baptism,  and  of  the  Mass  that  followed.  Prudentius,  the 
Christian  poet,  shows  us  as  early  as  his  day  the  "  long  streams 
of  Faithful,  who,"  as  he  twits  the  Pagans  still  remaining,  "  hasten 
past  the  temples  of  idolatry  to  the  Lateran  Palaces  to  receive 
with  royal  chrism  the  sacred  sign."  He  alludes  to  the  chrism 
because  of  the  Sacrament  of  Confirmation,  which  was,  as  we 
shall  see,  conferred  on  the  new  members  of  the  fold  immediately 
after  Baptism.1 

The  candidates  for  Baptism  were  not  only  Latins  and  Greeks, 
but  often  foreigners,  Goths,  Lombards,  Franks,  or  Anglo-Saxons. 
Not  infrequently  natives  of  far-off  lands  delayed  their  Baptism 
to  have  the  happiness  of  receiving  it  in  Rome,  near  the  tombs 
of  the  Saints,  under  the  direction  of  the  Fisherman's  successor, 
just  as,  before  this,  many  put  off  their  Baptism  for  years  in 
order  to  receive  it  in  the  Jordan.  Among  other  distinguished 
strangers  who  journeyed  from  their  native  land  to  receive 
Baptism  in  Rome  was  Caedwalla,  the  Anglo-Saxon  King. 
Besides  the  mixed  multitude  of  candidates  attending  the  Lateran 
in  festal  array — some  attired  after  the  fashion  of  the  Romans 


1  Prudentius,  see  present  work,  vol.  i.  p.  64. 


no.  532]  THE  EXULTET  325 

or  Greeks,  others  in  the  gaudy  costumes  of  the  barbarians,  but 
all  hoping  to  exchange  after  Baptism  their  national  dress  for 
the  white  robe  of  Baptism — were  the  crowds  of  relatives  and 
friends,  and  a  long  train  of  Christians  who  wished  to  celebrate 
both  the  anniversary  of  their  own  Baptism  and  the  festival  of 
our  Saviour.  The  Feast  of  the  Resurrection  was  for  the  whole 
City  a  commemoration  of  Baptism,  for  which  all  the  citizens, 
and  not  only  the  catechumens,  had  prepared  by  the  Lenten  fast.1 

The  long  service  began  on  the  Saturday  evening,  and  ended 
in  the  early  hours  of  Easter  Sunday. 

532.  Chanting  the  Litany,  the  clergy,  the  neophytes,  and  the 
Pope  entered  the  Basilica.  A  deacon  mounted  the  ambo,  and 
began  his  so-called  Praeconium  paschale,  a  thanksgiving  to  our 
Saviour  for  the  holy  light  from  above  which  He  brought  into  a 
world  lost  in  darkness  and  idolatry.  Even  in  the  sixth  century 
the  Light  of  Christ  was  figured  by  the  Paschal  candle. 

In  early  times  the  Praeconium  was  extemporised  by  the 
deacon,  but  probably  by  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  both  the 
words  and  the  chant  had  become  settled.  The  time-honoured 
Extiltet,  with  its  depth  of  thought  and  striking  ancient  melody, 
is  still  sung  to-day,  nor  could  any  one  who  has  heard  it  ever  forget 
the  experience.  Although  its  use  is  first  proved  from  Gallican 
MSS.  of  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries,  we  should  be  justified 
in  putting  its  origin  in  Rome  before  the  time  of  Gregory  the 
Great.    The  benediction  of  the  Paschal  Candle  as  oiven  in  the 

o 

Gelasian  Sacramentary  most  likely  belongs  to  the  original  edition 
of  the  work.2 

Besides  the  Paschal  candle,  another  candle  was  blessed  and 
lighted  at  the  lamps,  which  had  been  burning  ever  since  the 
consecration  of  the  Holy  Oils  on  the  previous  Maundy  Thursday, 
though  kept  concealed. 

The  church,  crammed  with  people,  when  all  the  lights  had 
been  lit  by  the  new  flame,  became  as  a  hall  of  fire.  It  was  a 
dramatic  representation  of  the  Light  brought  into  the  world  by 
Christ,  and  was  especially  effective  in  the  Lateran  Basilica,  where 

1  See  Caedwalla's  epitaph  at  St.  Peter's  in  my  Anal,  row.,  i,  102:  "...  Fonte 
renascentem  quern  Christi  gratia  purgans  \  Protinus  albatum  vexit  in  arce  poii.'' 
Caedwalla  died  in  Rome,  still  wearing  the  white  robe  of  Baptism. 

2  Probst,  Sacramentarien,  p.  21S  ff.  Cp.  Ebner,  Hndschr.  Studicn  iiber  das 
Praeconium  pasckale,  in  Kirchenmusikal.  Jahrb.,  1893,  p.  73  ff. 


326 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  532 


the  marble  columns,  the  polished  veneer  of  the  walls,  the  gilt 
ceiling,  the  gold  and  silver  votive  offerings,  and  the  seven  side- 
altars,  decorated  for  the  occasion,  vied  with  one  another  in 
reflecting  the  lights  in  the  nave.  In  the  blessing  of  the  font 
the  burning  Paschal  candle  and  its  companion  were  both  used, 
being  each  in  turn  dipped  into  the  water.  The  symbolic 
significance  of  the  Light  was  thus  brought  into  connection  with 
Baptism,  an  instance  of  how  in  the  "Great  Night"  the  glorifica- 
tion of  our  risen  Saviour  and  of  the  sacrament  of  Baptism  were 
intermingled  even  in  the  details  of  the  ceremonies. 

Before  the  blessing  of  the  water  there  followed,  however,  the 
reading  of  the  Old  Testament  "  Prophecies,"  this  being  a  part  of 
the  Vigil  forming  the  final  preparation  for  the  feast.  Such 
Vigils  nearly  always  consisted  of  Lessons,  occasionally  broken 
by  a  chant.  The  congregation  joined  in  the  singing,  for  instance, 
of  the  better  known  Psalms,  which,  as  a  rule,  were  probably 
sung  alternately  by  the  people  and  one  or  several  singers  in  the 
choir,  though  the  more  complicated  and  unusual  chants  were 
executed  by  the  choir  alone,  consisting  of  clerics  in  Minor  Orders 
stationed  inside  the  railed-off  Schola  cantortim.  The  number  of 
Lessons  read  varied  according  to  requirements,  and  was  not  the 
same  at  all  Vigils  of  the  year. 

To  this  day  the  Lessons  for  Holy  Saturday  are  composed  of 
the  olden  so-called  prophecies,  of  which  the  number  in  course 
of  time  was  fixed  at  twelve.  The  Lessons  are  still  interspersed 
with  Tracts,  sung  by  the  choir,  which,  like  the  chorus  in  Greek 
drama,  repeat,  usually  in  the  words  of  Scripture,  the  teaching  and 
moral  conveyed  by  the  preceding  Lesson.  The  hours  of  vigil 
were  thus  occupied  with  readings  and  melodies  which  served 
to  stimulate  both  mind  and  heart.  They  were  understood  by  all 
present,  for  in  Rome,  in  Byzantine  times,  the  service  was  held 
in  both  Latin  and  Greek  owing  to  the  population  being  divided 
in  language. 

The  Lessons  were  usually  preceded  by  a  call  to  attention  from 
the  deacon.  In  the  Roman  Ordo  for  the  Scrutinies  it  occurs 
repeatedly;  for  instance:  "Stand  in  order  and  in  silence,"  or 
"  Stand  in  silence  and  listen  with  attention."  The  command 
to  "Stand"  was  not  a  needless  one,  for  many,  exhausted  by  the 
lengthy  service,  and  in  the  absence  of  any  seats  in  the  church, 
would  spread  the  carpets  they  had  brought  and  lie  down  on 


no.  533]     THE  PROPHECIES  AND  TRACTS 


327 


the  marble  floor.  For  the  Lessons  they  were,  however,  expected 
to  rise.1 

Even  in  the  books  of  the  Ambrosian  rite  we  find  a  command 
of  "  Silence  "  given  just  before  the  Gospel.  The  reason  of  such 
a  direction  is  made  clear  by  a  passage  in  St.  Ambrose,  where 
he  says  that  women  should  be  mindful  of  the  Apostle's  command 
to  keep  silence  in  church  ;  while  the  Psalms  are  being  sung  in 
unison,  so  he  says,  attention  is  generally  paid,  because  all  are 
taking  their  part ;  as  soon,  however,  as  the  cleric  reads  a  Lesson 
alone,  the  ladies  become  restless  and  start  chattering.  We  must 
also  not  forget  that  ceremonies  like  that  of  the  Vigil  at  the 
Lateran  were  attended  by  many  out  of  mere  curiosity.  Any  one 
who  happened  to  be  in  Rome  for  Easter  would  naturally  make  a 
point  of  seeing  the  Papal  church  in  the  night  of  its  illumination, 
and  the  service  presided  over  by  the  Supreme  Pontiff  in  person.2 

The  Old  Testament  Lessons,  listened  to  during  that  night  in 
the  Lateran,  unfolded  a  grand  picture  of  God's  plans  for  the 
salvation  of  mankind  from  the  very  day  when  Adam  was  created. 

Several  Lessons  were  also  chosen  with  special  reference  to 
Baptism,  the  sacrament  by  which  the  children  of  God  are  created 
anew.  Such,  for  instance,  is  the  purport  of  the  story  of  Noe, 
saved  in  the  Ark  from  the  waters  of  the  Deluge,  the  Ark  being  a 
type  of  the  Church,  into  which  we  enter  by  Baptism  ;  of  the  story 
of  the  Divine  Promise  to  Abraham,  when  about  to  sacrifice  his 
son  Isaac:  "  I  will  multiply  thy  seed  as  the  stars  of  heaven,"  for 
the  seed,  as  the  prayer  which  follows  the  Lesson  explains,  is  the 
innumerable  progeny  gained  by  the  new  birth  among  all  the  nations. 
Further  on  comes  the  story  of  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea  by  the 
Israelites.  According  to  the  prayer  which  follows,  God  works  the 
same  wonder,  and  a  yet  greater  one,  by  the  baptismal  waters  of 
Salvation  and  amidst  the  floods  through  which  He  leads  His 
chosen  people  to  the  everlasting  Land  of  Promise.  Finally  in  the 
last  Lesson,  which  led  up  to  the  actual  Baptismal  ceremony,  we 
have  the  history  of  the  Three  Young  Men  in  the  furnace  of  burning 
fire.  The  bold  confession  of  the  young  men  served  to  impress 
the  neophytes  with  what  courage  and  self-sacrifice  they  must  be 
ready  to  confess  Christ.    The  timely  aid  which  they  received  also 


1  "  State  cum  discipline!  et  cum  silentio,"  No.  2,  or  more  commonly,  as  in  No.  5 
"  State,  cum  silentio,  audientcs  intente." 

2  The  Ambrosian  rite,  in  PROBST,  p.  403,  from  MABILLON,  De  liturgia  gall.,  I.,  2,  8. 


328 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  533 


enabled  the  candidates  to  realise  the  protection  assured  them  by  a 
mighty  and  gracious  God. 

Among  the  other  Lessons  was  Isaias's  prophecy  concerning 
Baptism,  and  Ezechiel's  concerning  the  Resurrection.  The 
Tracts,  on  the  other  hand,  extolled  the  spiritual  vineyard,  which 
is  the  Church,  the  last  one,  which  formed  the  transition  to  the 
blessing  of  the  font,  being  an  excerpt  from  the  Psalm  :  "  As  the 
hart  panteth  after  the  fountains  of  waters,  so  my  soul  panteth  after 
Thee,  O  God." 


V-if 


111.  226. — The  Lateran 
Baptistery.  Han.1 


533.  As  soon  as  the  Tract  was  completed,  the  candidates, 
with  the  Pope  and  his  clergy,  made  their  way  out  of  the  Basilica 
into  the  adjoining  Baptistery.  During  this 
procession  the  Litany  was  sung  a  second 
time.  At  the  head  of  the  file,  accompanied 
by  thurifers,  went  two  notaries  carrying  the 
blest  candles,  both  still  alight.  There  would 
seem  to  have  been  a  passage  from  the  apse 
of  the  Basilica  to  the  Baptistery  behind  it, 
allowing  of  its  beincr  entered  through  its  own 
vestibule  (111.  226,  A  ;  cp.  vol.  ii.,  111.  83). 

In  this  case  the  procession  of  Catechu- 
mens must,  appropriately  enough,  have 
passed  before  the  large  mosaic  mentioned 
above,  representing  the  Jordan  with  its  joyous 
scenes  (111.  221). 
There  they  must  have  seen  portrayed  in  stone  the  holy  joys 
of  the  sacred  waters,  which  were  soon  to  refresh  them  ;  the  mystic 
streams  of  Paradise  flowing  down  the  hill  which  bore  on  its 
summit  the  great  ornamental  Cross.  The  huge  figures  of  the 
Apostles,  looking  down  from  on  high,  must  have  reminded  them 
of  the  solemn  bestowal  of  the  Gospel  which  had  so  recently  taken 
place. 

The  Baptismal  chapel,  if  we  may  call  the  great  and  lofty 
rotunda  still  existing  a  chapel,  by  the  manner  of  its  decoration, 
kept  the  idea  of  Baptism  before  the  mind  of  all  who  entered. 

At  the  edge  of  the  circular  font  standing  in  the  centre,  were 

1  A,  Former  entrance  to  vestibule  ;  B,  Pope  Hilary's  Oratory  of  St.  John  the  Baptist; 
C,  his  Oratory  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist  ;  D,  Oratory  of  St.  Venantius,  erected  in  the 
seventh  century  ;  E,  present  entrance,  formerly  used  as  the  exit,  leading  to  the  Oratory 
of  the  Holy  Cross,  in  which  Confirmation  was  administered.    Cp.  vol.  ii.,  111.  83. 


no.  534]      THE  BLESSING  OF  THE  FONT  329 

large  silver  figures  of  Christ  and  John  the  Baptist,  and  between 
them  a  Lamb  with  the  inscription  :  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  who 
taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world."  Below  the  Lamb  the  main 
jet  of  water  fell  into  the  basin,  three  smaller  jets  being  belched 
forth  from  the  mouths  of  so  many  stags.  Steps  led  down  to  the 
water  which  was  several  feet  deep.  The  round  basin  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  circle  of  eight  red  granite  pillars,  which  can  be 
admired  to  this  day  in  their  original  position.  They  had  been 
erected  by  Xystus  III.,  who  also  added  the  cupola  above.  Around 
the  pillars  ran  a  spacious  circular  passage,  adjoining  which  were 
the  oratories  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist  and  St.  John  the  Baptist, 
set  opposite  each  other.  The  cupola,  rising  above  the  frieze  of 
the  octagon  formed  by  the  eight  granite  pillars,  resembled  that  in 
the  rotunda  of  Sta.  Costanza,  and,  as  was  the  case  in  this  latter 
church,  so  doubtless  in  the  Lateran  Baptistery  too,  the  interior  of 
the  vault  was  adorned  with  mosaics  or  pictures  having  reference 
to  Baptism.  From  the  midst  of  the  font  rose  a  massive  porphyry 
candelabrum,  which  once  bore  a  golden  vessel  filled  with  balm 
on  which  floated  asbestos  wicks.  At  night  these  and  other 
lights  filled  the  whole  edifice  with  radiance  and  sweet  perfume. 
Finally,  from  the  top  of  the  cupola  a  dove  in  precious  metal  hung 
down,  a  symbol  of  the  Spirit  of  God  moving  over  the  waters. 
The  metrical  inscription  of  Xystus  III.,  inscribed  in  great  letters 
on  the  marble  frieze  above  the  pillars,  proclaimed,  in  words 
we  have  already  had  occasion  to  study,  the  effects  of  Baptism, 
the  origin  of  this  sacrament,  which  sprang  from  the  wound 
pierced  in  our  Saviour's  side  when  He  was  hanging  on  the 
Cross,  and  the  equality  and  unity  of  all  Christians,  whose  one 
font,  one  Spirit,  and  one  Faith  makes  them  one  single  family 
(Cp.  111.  227).1 

534.  All  present,  holding  their  burning  candles,  grouped  them- 
selves about  the  font,  whereupon  the  Pope  greeted  them  with  the 
Dominus  vobiscum.  He  then,  with  an  Oremus,  summoned  them 
to  united  prayer,  and,  as  soon  as  this  was  finished,  proceeded 

1  Cp.  present  work,  vol.  ii.  p.  24,  and  Anal,  ran.,  1,  106.  III.  227  is  intended  to 
convey  some  idea  of  the  architecture  ;  it  is  less  accurate  with  respect  to  the  decorations 
described  in  the  Liber pont.  The  illustration  is  from  Rohault  DE  FLEURY,  Le  Latran 
au  7>wyen-dge,  PI.  33.  The  Oratory  of  the  Holy  Cross,  now  no  longer  in  existence,  has 
been  reconstructed  according  to  old  drawings.  On  this  Oratory  and  its  porch,  see 
present  work,  vol.  ii.  p.  80  ff. 


33° 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  534 


to  bless  the  water  in  the  mighty  font  with  the  prayers  still  in  use 
to-day  and  which  so  resemble  the  Preface  of  the  Mass.1 

In  the  preliminary  prayer  he  had  asked  God  to  "send  the 
spirit  of  adoption  to  regenerate  the  new  people  whom  the  font  of 
Baptism  brings  forth."  In  the  blessing  which  followed  he  re- 
minded God  that,  already  in  the  beginning,  His  Spirit  had  moved 
over  the  waters,  and  that  the  deluge  which  washed  away  the 
crimes  of  a  guilty  world  prefigured  a  regeneration.  He  then 
implored  Him  to  render  the  water  fruitful,  that,  from  the  immacu- 
late womb  of  the  divine  font,  a  heavenly  progeny  may  come  forth. 
In  the  course  of  this  long  blessing,  couched  in  words  so  pro- 
foundly suggestive,  we  not  only  find  an  allusion  to  the  sacrament's 
origin  in  the  wounded  side  of  Christ,  and  other  figures  already 
familiar  to  us  through  the  inscription  of  Xystus  III.,  but  also 
references  to  the  four  rivers  of  Paradise,  which  watered  all  the 
earth  ;  to  the  water,  brought  forth  by  Moses  from  the  rock  for  a 
thirsty  people,  and  to  the  Jordan,  in  which  Christ  by  His  own 
Baptism  had  hallowed  the  water.  Thus  the  Scriptural  Lessons, 
the  decorations  of  the  spot,  and  the  impressive  prayer  of  bene- 
diction all  worked  together  to  elucidate  the  meaning  of  the 
ceremony. 

At  the  words  of  the  blessing  :  "  May  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  descend  into  the  fulness  of  this  font,"  the  two  attendants 
dipped  their  candles  into  the  water.  At  the  conclusion  the  Pope 
poured  on  the  water  from  a  golden  vessel  the  oil  which  had  been 
consecrated  on  Maundy  Thursday,  and  mixed  both  elements  with 
his  hand. 

As  soon  as  the  blessing  was  over  the  Baptisms  began. 

The  Archdeacon  led  the  neophytes  one  by  one  to  the  Pope, 
to  whom  each  once  more  confessed  his  Faith  by  answering 
affirmatively  certain  brief  questions. 

Each  then  descended  into  the  baptismal  font,  either  in  an 
entirely  nude  state,  agreeably  with  the  olden  practice,  or  with  the 
scantiest  of  costumes.  The  threefold  "immersion"  had,  however, 
already  ceased  to  be  carried  out  literally.  The  candidate  was 
made  to  stand  in  the  water,  and,  from  one  of  the  jets  surrounding 
the  basin  a  triple  shower  or  "aspersion  "  was  cast  so  as  to  drench 
his  head  and  body.    By  this  means  the  olden  immersion  was 

1  Sacr.  Gelas.,  i,  n.  44  :  "  Inde  descendis  cum  letania  ad  fontem.  Benedictio  fontis." 
The  Baptistery  was  known  as  "  S.  Joannes  in  Fon/e." 


no.  534]        THE  BAPTISMAL  CEREMONY  331 

combined  with  the  so-called  infusion  or  sprinkling.  The  priests, 
deacons,  and  other  clergy  taking  a  part  in  the  proceeding  also^ 
stood  in  the  water,  clad  in  white  vestments.  The  ceremony  was 
repeated  for  each  candidate,  the  accompanying  formula  being,  "  I 
baptize  thee  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost." 

The  godfathers  and  godmothers  seized  the  hand  of  the 
neophyte,  as  soon  as  he  was  ready  to  leave  the  water,  "lifting" 
him  out  of  the  font,  and  then  taking  him  under  their  protection. 
They  dried  him  with  linen  cloths  held  in  readiness,  and  presented 
him  to  a  priest,  who  completed  the  baptismal  ceremony  by 
signing  the  Cross  on  his  forehead  with  the  scented  consecrated 
oil  or  chrism,  in  doing  which  the  priest  repeated  the  words : 
"  May  Christ,  who  hath  regenerated  thee  through  water  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  anoint  thee  with  the  chrism  of  Salvation  unto  Life 
Everlasting." 

It  is  needless  to  add  that,  throughout  the  ceremony,  all  care 
was  taken  to  safeguard  modesty  as  then  understood,  and  that  strict 
supervision  was  exercised.  Females,  for  instance,  were  waited 
on  by  matrons.  We  must,  however,  not  forget  that  in  those 
early  times,  in  consequence  of  the  vast  difference  in  public  opinion, 
there  was  less  bashfulness,  nor  were  people  so  ready  to  take 
offence  then,  as  in  subsequent  ages.1 

The  robe  which  those  who  had  been  baptized  assumed,  was 
white,  to  express  the  purity  bestowed  by  Baptism.  Pope  Gregory 
the  Great  speaks  in  many  passages  of  the  white  garments  of 
the  newly  baptized,  and  in  terms  which  clearly  show  that  he 
was  alluding  to  grown  up  people,  or  at  any  rate  not  to  mere 
infants.2 

Whilst  the  candidate  was  dressing,  a  white  linen  cloth  was 
bound  around  his  head,  serving  as  a  symbol  of  the  priestly  crown. 
Such  at  least  was  the  explanation  given  of  this  bandage  at  the 
time  of  John  the  Deacon.    As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  practice  arose 

1  Cp.  111.  228  and  Duchesne,  Origines  du  culte  chrc't},  p.  320.  On  the  female  atten- 
dants, cp.  Canones  Hipp.j  Duchesne,  ibid.,  p.  539.  Duchesne  is,  however,  mistaken 
in  supposing-  that  the  name  of  one  of  the  chapels  of  the  Baptistery  ("  S.  Joannes  advestem  " 
[111.  226B])  shows  it  to  have  been  used  as  a  disrobing  room.  The  name  arose  from  the 
"vestis"  or  "  tunica"  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  having  been  kept  there. 

2  Greg.,  Regisirum,  8,  n.  1.  Writing  to  Peter,  the  Corsican  Bishop  of  Aleria,  the 
Pope  says  :  "  Transmisimus  fraternitati  tuae  quinquaginta  solidos  ad  vestimenta  eoruniy 
qui  baptizandi  sunt,  compara?ida."  Cp.  5,  n.  17  (5,  n.  3),  and  8,  n.  23,  where  mention  is 
also  made  of  the  white  garments  usually  worn  by  the  neophytes. 


332 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  535 


from  the  wish  to  keep  that  part  of  the  head  covered  which  had 
been  anointed  with  chrism.1 

535.  Confirmation,  which  usually  followed  immediately  after 
Baptism,  after  the  time  of  Pope  Hilary,  was  generally  administered 
in  the  Oratory  to  the  Cross,  erected  by  him.'2 

Previously  the  same  purpose  had  no  doubt  been  served  by 
the  chamber  near  the  entrance  to  the  Baptistery,  where  we  still 
see  the  apse  vaulting  decorated  with  the  Vine  of  Christ  in  mosaic. 
The  mosaic,  with  its  classical  twining  vine,  probably  belongs  to 
a  time  earlier  than  Hilary's,  and  between  the  leaves  it  displays 
a  number  of  crosses.  As  those  confirmed,  according  to  the  words 
which  accompanied  the  rite,  were  "  signed  with  the  sign  of  the 
Cross,"  it  may  be  that  the  crosses  here  had  some  reference  to  the 
sacrament  in  question.3 

The  Oratory  of  the  Holy  Cross  was,  however,  better  suited 
to  this  purpose,  especially  on  account  of  its  size.  Thither 
accordingly  the  neophytes  proceeded  through  the  door  opposite 
the  porch  of  the  Baptistery  (111.  226,  E.),  i.e.  that  which  now 
serves  as  the  entrance  to  the  building.  They  then  went  along 
the  open  portico  which  once  united  the  Baptistery  with  the  Chapel 
of  the  Holy  Cross.  The  night  was  now  far  advanced,  and  we 
can  well  imagine  how  picturesque  was  the  procession  of  white- 
robed  candidates  making  their  way  with  their  myriad  lights  and 
the  rest  of  the  Faithful,  singing  psalms,  amidst  ancient  arcades 
with  the  star-lit  heavens  above  and  the  fountains  babbling  in  the 
gardens  around  (Cp.  111.  227). 

On  reaching  the  Oratory  they  were  drawn  up  in  front  of  the 
Pope's  throne  in  two  rows,  and  in  the  same  order  as  their  names 
had  originally  been  called.  Stress  is  always  laid  on  this  last 
detail  by  the  Ordo,  for  no  one  was  to  intrude  without  examination. 
The  Pope,  with  outstretched  hand,  then  invoked  the  Holy  Ghost, 
praying  Him  to  send  down  His  sevenfold  gift  upon  those  born 
anew  and  to  "  seal  them  unto  Life  everlasting  with  the  sign  of 
the  Cross  of  Christ "  ("coitsignare,"  " Sac? -amentum  consignationis  "). 

1  Cp.  the  epistle  of  Johannes  Diaconus,  cited  above,  p.  317,  note  1  (n.  6)  :  "  Reizas- 
centis  caput  lintei  decore  componitur?  &c.  According  to  the  seventh  Roman  Ordo  cited 
on  p.  315  (n.  11),  the  candidates  received  from  the  Pope  before  Confirmation  :  "  Stolam, 
casulam  et  chrismale  et  decern  siclos  [the  Pope's  Easter  gift],  et  vestiuntur" 

2  On  this  Oratory,  see  present  work,  vol.  ii.  p.  80  ff. 

3  There  is  a  good  figure  of  the  mosaic  in  DE  Rossi,  Musaici,  sec.  v.  It  is  de  Rossi 
who  points  out  its  possible  reference  to  Confirmation. 


NO.  336] 


CONFIRMATION 


333 


He  thereupon  made  the  sign  of  the  Cross  upon  each  candidate's 
forehead,  with  his  thumb  dipped  in  chrism,  at  the  same  time 
repeating  a  form  of  words,  and  then  dismissed  each  with  the 
usual  "pax."  1 

536.  At  last  the  Mass  could  begin.  All  accordingly  returned 
in  procession  to  the  Basilica,  where  the  Litany  was  being  sung 
by  the  choir.  This  is  the  only  one  of  the  three  Litanies  in  use 
in  the  ancient  ritual,  retained  in  the  services  to-day.  The  choir 
had  remained  in  the  church,  and  had  begun  the  chant  in  the 
Pope's  absence.  The  invocations  were  repeated  first  seven  times, 
then  five  times,  finally  three  times,  with  an  occasional  pause. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  threefold  invocations,  the  Pope  entered 
with  his  attendants,  and  prostrated  himself  before  the  altar.2 

On  rising  he  intoned  the  "  Gloria  in  excelsis"  and  proceeded 
with  the  Mass.  It  was  the  first  time  the  neophytes  had  been 
allowed  to  attend  the  Liturgy  with  the  rest  of  the  Faithful.  The 
Mass,  even  now  sung  on  Holy  Saturday,  is  clearly  enough  intended 
for  Easter,  this  being  evident  from  the  threefold  Alleluia  chanted 
after  the  Epistle  to  proclaim  our  Saviour's  victory  over  death. 
At  the  "  Hanc  igitur"  however,  the  celebrant  expressly  com- 
memorates the  neophytes. 

At  the  end  of  the  service  they  also  partook  of  the  Body  of 
Christ.  Even  little  children  just  baptized  received  this  Sacrament, 
on  which  account  the  Seventh  Ordo  expressly  lays  it  down  that 
they  were  not  to  be  suckled  after  Baptism.  Fasting  Communion 
had  even  then  already  long  been  the  rule. 

Before  the  end  of  the  Canon,  the  Pope  had  blessed  a  mixture 
of  milk,  honey,  and  water,  which  was  poured  into  the  chalice  of 
the  Mass  after  the  Communion,  and,  as  John  the  Deacon  tells  us, 
was  given  to  the  neophytes  to  drink,  clearly  as  a  sort  of  ablution. 
According  to  the  same  authority,  this  was  to  show  that  those  who 
had  been  baptized  had  entered  into  the  true  "Promised  Land, 
flowing  with  milk  and  honey."  Hence,  being  about  to  begin  their 
wanderings  through  this  land,  they  are,  he  says,  rightly  compared 
to  little  ones,  for  whom  milk  and  honey  form  the  best  diet. 

1  On  Confirmation  as  administered  in  the  Oratory  of  the  Holy  Cross  and  as  figured 
on  ancient  Christian  monuments,  see  F.  J.  Dolger  {Rom.  Quartalschr.,  19  (1905),  1  ff., 
Die  Firmung  in  den  Deitkmalern  dcs  altchr.  Altcrtums),  whose  views  are  at  variance 
with  the  present  writer's. 

2  Cp.  Duchesne,  Orig.  du  cultc'*,  p.  476. 


334 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  557 


537.  By  the  time  the  Faithful  and  their  new  brethren  made 
their  way  home,  the  dawn  of  Easter  Sunday  had  already  broken. 
In  the  Lateran  there  was  no  other  Mass  that  day,  but  in  the 
morning  the  Liturgy  was  celebrated  a  second  time  at  the  second 
Papal  Cathedral,  Sta.  Maria  Maggiore. 

In  the  afternoon,  the  neophytes  were  expected  to  assemble 
again  before  the  Pope  in  the  Lateran,  for  solemn  Vespers.  After 
the  Magnificat  and  final  prayer,  all  left  the  Basilica,  and,  chanting 
meanwhile  joyous  hymns  in  Greek  and  Latin,  proceeded  to  the 
Baptistery,  where  a  pause  was  made,  and  then  to  the  Oratory 
of  the  Holy  Cross.  We  still  have  the  prayers  recited  by  the 
Pope  at  these  lesser  stations. 

Not  on  Easter  Sunday  only,  but  every  day  in  Easter  Week, 
the  neophytes  were  expected  to  visit  the  two  sacred  spots  which 
they  had  reason  to  cherish  so  highly,  having  there  being  born 
anew,  and  marked  with  the  cross  as  soldiers  of  Christ.  This 
was  a  happy  device  adopted  for  keeping  fresh  the  first  impres- 
sions made  by  the  Mysteries.  In  addition  to  this  the  catechumens 
during  that  week  were  present  at  the  Mass  which  the  Pope  cele- 
brated every  day  at  a  different  church  of  the  City  after  the  fashion 
of  a  station.  They  retained  their  white  raiment  for  the  whole 
octave,  i.e.  till  Low  Sunday,  which  thence  obtained  its  name 
of  Dominica  in  A  Ibis.  The  singular  and  edifying  procession  of 
the  white-robed  Candidaii,  accompanied  on  their  visits  to  the 
churches  by  crowds  of  other  Faithful,  well  expressed  the  idea, 
that  the  Paschal  festival  constituted  for  the  whole  City  a  general 
commemoration  of  its  Baptism. 

On  Easter  Monday  the  Pope  betook  himself  with  the  neo- 
phytes to  St.  Peter's,  for  the  church  of  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles 
deserved  the  first  token  of  respect — the  chief  shepherd,  the  first 
visit  of  his  new  lambs.  In  the  Gelasian  Sacramentary  the  prayer 
of  the  Mass  for  this  day  fittingly  refers  to  St.  Peter.  On  Tuesday, 
the  place  of  meeting  was  St.  Paul's.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that 
in  the  present  Missal,  the  lesson  for  the  Monday  Mass  is  an 
excerpt  from  a  discourse  in  which  Peter  the  Apostle  proclaims  the 
Resurrection  of  Christ,  while  on  the  Tuesday  a  similar  discourse 
by  St.  Paul  serves  the  same  purpose  ;  each  Apostle  thus  holds 
forth  in  his  own  church.  The  present  Missal  still  enumerates 
these  ancient  Stations  in  their  original  order. 

On  Wednesday  there  was  a  Station  at  San  Lorenzo  fuori  le 


No.  537] 


EASTER  WEEK 


335 


Mura,  to  honour  the  Saint  who  stood  third  in  rank  in  the 
Romans'  estimation.  The  Gospel  speaks  of  the  miraculous 
draught  of  fishes,  and  of  the  feeding  of  the  seven  disciples  with 
fish  and  bread,  a  reference,  doubtless,  to  the  gain  of  the  candidates 
for  the  faith  and  to  their  recent  communion. 

On  Thursday  the  neophytes  and  the  rest  met  in  the  then 
favoured  church  of  SS.  Philip  and  James,  the  Apostoleion  of 
Rome,  where  the  lesson  reminded  them  how  the  eunuch  of  Queen 
Candace  of  Ethiopia  had  been  baptized  by  Philip.  On  Friday, 
there  was,  in  later  times,  a  Station  at  S.  Maria  ad  Martyres  (the 
Pantheon),  and  on  Saturday  another  in  the  Lateran.  On  Low 
Sunday,  the  last  day  of  the  octave,  the  neophytes  were  in  attend- 
ance at  the  Basilica  on  the  Aurelian  Way  dedicated  to  the  youthful 
martyr  St.  Pancras,  who,  as  we  know,  was  venerated  as  patron 
of  the  innocent  and  as  guardian  of 
oaths.  This  Mass  began,  as  at  present, 
with  the  words  from  the  first  Epistle 
of  St.  Peter:  "As  new-born  babes, 
desire  the  rational  milk  without  o-uile." 

o 

A  year  later,  neophytes  celebrated  a 
festival  of  their  own,  the  Pascha  anno- 
tinum,  in  memory  of  the  grace  received. 
On  this,  the  Christian's  birthday,  since 
earliest  times  it  had  been  customary  to 
give  suitable  presents,  reminding  the  recipient  of  the  hallowed 
day.  The  beautifully  executed  lamp  in  Florence  in  the  shape  of 
a  ship  with  its  inscription,  "  The  Lord  gives  the  Law  to  Valerius 
Severus.  Long  live  Eutropius !  "  was  evidently  a  memorial  of 
the  "giving"  of  the  law  to  Valerius,  and  of  his  admission  by 
Baptism  into  the  ship  which  is  the  Church  (see  vol.  i.,  111.  14). 
Likewise,  when  we  find  on  early  specimens  of  gilt  glass,  pictures 
of  Christ  bestowing  the  Law  on  Peter,  and  recollect  that  such 
glasses  were  frequently  used  as  gifts,  we  shall  not  be  far  wrong 
in  looking  on  them  as  christening  presents,  particularly  when  the 
inscription  expressly  congratulates  some  person.  Articles,  whether 
for  domestic  or  church  use,  were  frequently  adorned  with  designs 
relating  to  Baptism.  The  spoon,  of  early  Christian  workmanship 
from  Aquileia  (111.  228), 1  displaying  the  dove  or  symbol  of  the 


111.  228. — Scene  of  Baptism  on 
an  Early  Christian  Silver 
Spoon  from  Aquileia. 


1  GARRUCCI,  Arte  crist.,  tav.  462,  n.  8. 


336 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  538 


Holy  Ghost  descending  upon  the  naked  neophyte  standing  in  the 
font,  is  a  good  instance  in  point. 

538.  In  such  wise  were  new  members  admitted  into  the 
Church's  fold  towards  the  close  of  the  ancient  world.  Rome,  her 
Bishop  and  her  clergy  could  well  celebrate  their  triumph,  for  the 
profoundly  significant  ceremonies  of  Eastertide  ever  enlarged  the 
circle  of  the  Faithful.  What  the  Church  of  Rome  desired  was  no 
earthly  domination  or  enhancement  of  authority,  but  the  growth 
of  Christ's  kingdom,  and  the  most  earnest  efforts  of  her  Bishops 
were  spent  in  winning  over  those  still  outside  the  Church,  and  in 
making  them  members  of  the  great  and  world-spread  family  of  the 
redeemed  who  acknowledge  Christ  as  their  Head. 

It  is  now,  however,  time  to  look  beyond  the  narrow  confines 
of  the  Roman  Church  and  her  peculiar  practices,  and  to  see  what 
position  the  Bishops  of  Rome  occupied  in  the  ecclesiastical  world. 

As  the  Church  steadily  enlarged  her  borders,  her  chief  pastors 
were  more  and  more  called  upon  to  fulfil  the  task  assigned  them 
with  their  office  by  God,  of  knitting  together  the  scattered  members 
into  the  close  union  demanded  by  Christ.  We  have  already 
studied  in  detail  this  progressive  development  of  Rome's  authority 
within  the  Roman  Empire  previous  to  the  sixth  century,  but,  so 
far,  we  have  made  but  cursory  allusions  to  the  work  of  the  Roman 
Primate  outside  the  limits  of  the  Empire. 

In  what  follows,  we  shall  complete  our  description  of  the  Close 
of  the  Ancient  World  with  which  our  first  three  volumes  are  con- 
cerned by  considering  more  closely  the  continuance  and  progress 
of  the  Papal  office  during  the  sixth  century,  at  a  time  when  the 
boundaries  of  the  Roman  Empire  were  already  badly  broken, 
while  new  nations  were  opening  fresh  spheres  of  action  for  the 
See  of  Rome. 


1 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  ROMAN  PRIMACY  IN  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY 

The  Oneness  of  the  Roman  Empire 

539.  In  the  brilliant  account  given  by  Pliny  of  the  greatness  of 
the  Roman  Empire,  the  dominant  idea  is,  that  under  its  supre- 
macy, all  the  nations  of  the  world  are  welded  into  one  majestic 
whole.1 

According  to  the  view  held  by  the  Romans  in  his  time,  Rome 
was  to  provide  mankind  with  a  new  lease  of  life,  and  even  the 
majority  of  the  vanquished  nations  agreed  in  the  hope  that  this 
state  of  things  would  last  for  ever.  This  hope  was  indeed  fulfilled, 
though  in  a  sense  far  more  perfect  than  the  Pagan  world  could 
have  foreseen. 

When  Rome's  secular  rule  collapsed  in  the  West,  the  Christian 
Church,  with  its  supreme  See  in  decaying,  ancient  Rome,  was 
already  established  as  a  powerful  organisation  designed  to  embrace 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  in  one  spiritual  family.  The 
Church  was  thus  a  means  of  realising  the  old  Roman  conception, 
though  in  a  nobler  and  purer  form.  What  she  offered  mankind 
was  no  mere  outward  bond  founded  on  violent  conquest,  and  in- 
volving the  subjection  of  all  to  the  same  set  of  rigid  laws.  Of  such 
a  stamp  was  the  oneness  of  the  Old  Roman  Empire ;  that  of  the 
Church,  on  the  other  hand,  strove  after  an  harmonious  association, 
after  a  mutual  alliance  of  countries  on  the  basis  of  the  same 
religious  faith,  and  of  that  charity  which  is  Heaven's  own  gift. 

Yet  the  Old  Roman  Empire  was  not  entirely  dead.  Its  con- 
ceptions still  held  good  in  the  East  whither  the  Empire  had  removed 
its  seat  of  government,  and  Byzantium  sought  to  uphold  as  of  yore 
the  name  and  authority  of  Rome  in  the  West.  Such  western 
countries  as  still  remained  subject  to  it,  for  instance,  North  Africa, 
that  part  of  Italy  left  unconquered  by  the  Lombards,  likewise 
Istria,  Dalmatia,  Illyricum,  and  finally  the  regained  coasts  of 


1  Pliny,  Hist,  nat.,  14,  c.  2  ;  27,  c.  2.    Cp.  Friedlander,  Sitfcngesck.  Rorns6,  2,  4. 
VOL.  III.  337  Y 


338 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  539 


Spain,  were  still  "  Roman  "  as  of  old.  Byzantium  also  strove  to 
prevail  on  the  new  States  founded  by  the  "  Barbarians"  to  group 
themselves  about  the  Roman  Empire  either  by  admitting  its 
suzerainty,  or  by  becoming  its  respectful  friends  and  allies. 

The  Emperor  of  the  Eastern  Roman  Empire,  not  without 
some  show  of  reason,  deemed  himself  heir  to  the  ancient  Imperium 
mundi.  The  impression  already  made  by  the  ancient  world- 
empire  on  the  national  life  of  all  who  had  been  subject  to  it  was 
so  deep  that  there  were  but  few  to  doubt  that  Constantinople  was 
the  capital  of  the  world,  and  the  Emperor  its  supreme  sovereign. 
The  Empire  of  the  "Romans"  still  represented  civilisation  as 
opposed  to  barbarism.  Its  manners,  its  culture,  and  its  wise  and 
complex  system  of  government,  amidst  this  chaos  of  new  peoples, 
were  rightly  looked  upon  as  shining  examples.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Romans  themselves,  conformably  with  their  olden 
practice,  continued  to  qualify  all  who  were  outside  the  Empire 
as  gentes,  i.e.  as  mere  hordes. 

If  the  Popes  were  unswervingly  faithful  to  the  Imperial  con- 
ception now  incorporated  in  Byzantium,  this  was  out  of  respect  for 
tradition  and  for  old-established  right,  and  was  therefore  a  result 
of  that  conservative  spirit  which  so  strongly  characterised  their 
rule,  and  which  the  Church  even  fostered  on  religious  grounds. 
This  attitude  of  the  Church  was  also  to  the  advantage  of  the 
people.  The  oneness  represented  by  the  Empire  and  the  civilisa- 
tion for  which  it  stood  could  not  fail  to  be  of  profit  to  the  world, 
provided  always  that  its  oneness  was  not  mere  tyranny,  and  that 
its  civilisation  was  open  to  the  leaven  of  Christianity.  It  was  in 
the  best  interests  of  the  Church  that  the  Popes  should  promote 
the  political  unity  so  dear  to  the  Roman  Government,  for  the 
Imperium  mundi,  ever  since  the  time  of  the  first  Christian 
Emperors,  had  powerfully  contributed  to  help  the  Church,  which 
is  God's  Kingdom  on  earth,  and  to  assist  in  its  extension. 

The  theory,  however  imperfectly  realised  in  practice,  was  that 
the  highest  temporal  authority  should  be  the  Church's  protector, 
and  the  Emperor,  the  sovereign  of  the  world,  the  chief  guardian 
of  the  Church's  peace.1 

In  Pagan  times  the  Emperor  had  even  borne  the  title  of 
Pontifex  Maximus,  and  the  supreme  power,  both  spiritual  and 


1  Cp.  present  work,  vol.  ii.  p.  3  ff. 


no.54o]  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE 


339 


temporal,  was  united  in  the  throne.  Such  a  state  of  affairs  could 
no  longer  continue  after  the  Divine  Founder  of  Christianity  had 
placed  the  government  of  His  Kingdom  in  other  hands  and 
established  a  system  independent  of  the  temporal  authority.  In 
spite  of  this,  those  of  the  Emperor's  former  prerogatives  which 
were  deemed  compatible  with  Christianity  were  religiously 
retained,  and  the  Supreme  Pontiff  of  other  times  became  a 
Supreme  Protector. 

540.  Nowhere  is  the  idea  of  the  Christian  Empire  so  well 
expressed  by  the  Roman  Church  as  in  the  language  of  her 
Liturgy.  It  was  but  natural  for  her  to  express  in  the  sanctuary 
of  her  altar  the  thoughts  to  which  the  parlous  condition  of  the 
world  gave  rise.  This  is  the  reason  why,  even  to-day,  we  find 
her  asking  God's  blessing  on  hopes  and  plans  which  seem  like 
an  echo  from  the  time  of  the  best-minded  Emperors  of  the 
Christian  Roman  Empire.  Such  are  the  solemn  formulae  of 
prayer,  which  outlived  the  Middle  Ages,  when  they  were  adapted 
to  the  German  sovereigns  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  and  are 
still  partly  preserved  in  the  present  Missal.  They  had  not  long 
been  introduced,  when,  through  the  fault  of  the  Empire,  or 
through  the  circumstances  of  the  age,  they  became  mere  ideals, 
never  to  be  adequately  fulfilled.  Yet  who  can  blame  the  Church 
of  Rome  for  having,  during  the  general  wreck  of  the  world,  kept 
her  eyes  fixed  upon  her  grand  ideals,  and  for  having  continued 
to  petition  God  for  the  highest  good,  albeit  she  had  long  been 
compelled  to  content  herself  with  less? 

In  the  most  impressive  hour  of  the  year,  in  the  Good  Friday 
Liturgy,  we  hear  her  praying  for  the  holder  of  the  Imperial 
power  "  that  God  may  make  all  barbarous  nations  subject  to  him, 
to  our  everlasting  peace."  "  Look  graciously,"  she  cries,  "  upon 
the  Roman  Empire,  that  the  nations  {genies),  who  trust  in  their 
wild  force,  may  be  subdued  by  the  power  of  Thy  right  hand." 
The  distress  accompanying  the  barbarian  irruptions  alluded  to 
in  this  prayer  was  accountable  for  other  similar  prayers  for  the 
Roman  Empire.  "  Overthrow,  O  Lord,  the  foes  of  the  Roman 
name  and  the  enemies  of  the  Catholic  Faith "  ;  or  again  : 
"  Through  Thy  grace  may  both  the  Roman  State  and  Chris- 
tian piety  be  preserved."  In  these  latter  prayers,  the  Roman 
Power  seems  almost  to  be  placed  on  a  level  with  the  Catholic 


34° 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.540 


Communion.  This  is,  however,  the  usual  language  of  the  Liturgy 
elsewhere.  The  Christian  Empire  is,  in  another  place,  simply 
described  as  "  the  Kingdom  which  obeys  Thy  Divine  Majesty." 
When  heaven's  aid  is  invoked  for  the  protection  of  the  "  Roman 
name,"  this,  in  the  Church's  language,  is  tantamount  to  asking 
God's  help  for  the  support  of  religion.1 

No  earthly  power  could  maintain  the  Empire  in  the  West, 
and  it  had  been  ordained  by  Providence  that  its  frontiers  should 
be  steadily  encroached  on  by  strangers,  making  room  for  fresh 
political  groups.  But  if  the  unity  of  the  Roman  World  was 
destroyed,  or  reduced  to  that  of  a  mere  confederation,  the 
ecclesiastical  unity  of  Rome  remained  intact.  It  became  the 
Church's  urgent  task  to  keep  the  nations  struggling  for  indepen- 
dence united  at  least  in  Faith  and  under  one  hierarchy  ;  in  some 
instances  she  had  even  to  instil  into  them  the  very  notion  of 
unity,  with  which  they  were  as  yet  unacquainted.  The  authority 
of  the  Roman  Primacy  hung,  so  to  speak,  in  the  balance  ;  but 
if  Rome  could  only  become  the  recognised  headquarters  of 
religion  in  the  new  constitution  of  the  world,  as  it  had  been 
previously  within  the  Roman  Empire,  then  unity  was  safe  for 
the  future. 

At  the  same  time  we  must  beware  of  exaggeration,  and  not 
insist  unduly  on  the  crisis  through  which  Rome  had  then  to  pass. 
Rome  dealt,  without  any  great  display  of  effort,  with  the  pro- 
blems presented  by  a  world  in  decay.  In  fact,  the  measures  to 
this  end  taken  by  its  Bishops  were  so  apparently  trivial  that 
the  Popes  would  scarcely  seem  to  have  been  aware  of  any  danger. 
Gently,  and  as  a  matter  of  course,  submission  to  the  Holy  See 
established  itself  with  the  Gospel  among  the  converted  nations. 
The  Primacy  of  Rome  was,  as  it  were,  taken  for  granted  by  the 
very  acceptance  of  the  Faith,  and  the  world  remained  deeply 
conscious  of  the  Supremacy  of  the  Roman  Church.     As  early 

1  "...  ut  Deus  omnipotens  subditas  Mi  [imperatori]  facial  ojimes  Barbaras  nationes 
ad  nostram  pcrpetuam  pacem."  "  Respice  propitius  ad  romanum  benigtms  impetium,  ut 
ge?ites,  quae  in  sua  feritate  cojifiduiit,  dexterae  tuae  potentia  co)/ipri>na?itur."  Also  in  the 
prayer  of  the  Gelasian  Sacramentary,  MURATORI,  Opp.  (ed.  AREZZO),  13,  P.  2,  p.  1 1 1. 
This  same  prayer  is  also  found  in  Mabillon's  Gallican  Missal,  the  Romanum  Imperium 
being  expressly  mentioned.  "  Hostcs  rotnani  nominis  et  inimicos  catholicae  professio7iis 
expugna."  (Oratio  in  Domin.  Pentec.,  P.L.,  LV.,  42.)  Cp.  ibid.,  76,  80,  86,  81  :  "  Tuo 
tnunere  dirigantur  et  romana  securitas  et  devotio  Christiana"  Ibid.  (133),  the  Roman 
Empire  is  described  as:  " Regnum  tuae  maiestati  deditum"  and  a  prayer  is  for  the 
"  custodia  romani  nominis."  The  Gelasian  and  Gregorian  Sacramentaries  both  of  them 
repeat  these  prayers  almost  in  the  same  words. 


No.  540] 


THE  ROMAN  IDEAL 


34i 


as  430  the  Christian  poet  Prosper  of  Aquitania  could  exclaim  : 
"  Rome,  the  See  of  Peter,  through  the  excellence  of  his  pastoral 
office,  has  been  made  the  head  of  the  world  ;  what  the  City  fails 
to  subdue  by  force  of  arms,  it  holds  by  the  power  of  religion." 1 

There  is,  however,  no  doubt  that  her  task  was  facilitated  by 
the  wisdom  with  which  she  adopted  the  Roman  conception  and 
pushed  it  in  the  world  ;  nor  could  either  her  right  or  her  ability 
so  to  do  be  disputed  by  any.  The  memory  of  the  ancient  Italian 
supremacy  and  of  the  Roman  Empire  survived  in  the  West, 
thanks  only  to  the  Church.  Even  the  customs  and  views  of  the 
Romans  were  retained  in  the  countries  subdued  by  barbarians 
only  through  the  Church's  exertions.  Owing  to  her  spiritual 
character,  she  indeed  rose  superior  to  all  national  differences  ; 
yet,  having  once  been  in  contact  with  Latin  and  Hellenic  culture, 
she  naturally  stood  forth  for  Roman  civilisation,  which  she 
succeeded  in  making  all-powerful,  besides  insuring  it  a  pre- 
ponderating influence  in  matters  political.2 

The  Bishops  of  the  Church  were  educated  as  Romans,  so 
far  as  the  times  allowed  of  any  education  whatsoever ;  her  mis- 
sionaries, too,  made  their  settlements  real  nurseries  of  Roman 
civilisation.  Canon  Law  was  cast  in  the  mould  of  Roman  juris- 
prudence, and,  under  the  Church's  influence,  Roman  law  found 
its  way  into  the  codes  of  the  new  nations.  Everywhere  the 
Church's  representatives  laid  stress  on  the  need  of  union  with 
Rome,  the  Metropolis,  which,  thanks  to  Peter's  keys,  was  more 
than  ever,  and  in  a  far  higher  sense,  the  capital  of  the  world.3 

In  the  following  pages  we  shall  endeavour  to  make  more 
clear  the  action  of  the  Primacy  during  the  latter  half  of  the  sixth 
century  by  instancing  some  of  the  occasions  on  which  it  inter- 
vened and  was  acknowledged  in  various  quarters  of  the  world  ; 
in  this  we  are,  however,  somewhat  handicapped  by  the  scantiness 
of  the  information  at  our  disposal  and  the  scarcity  of  Papal  letters 

1  The  passage  so  often  quoted  from  Prosper  (De  ingratis,  v.  51  ff.)  runs  : 

"  Secies  Roma  Petri,  quae  pastoralis  honoris 
Facta  cap2(t  mundo,  qnidqitid  non  possidet  armis 
Religione  tenet." 

2  Cp.  Ebert,  Literatur  des  Abendl?,  1,  361. 

3  Of  the  clever  work  by  an  anonymous  Roman  prelate  (Deiie  cause  della  grandezza 
di  Roma,  Sec,  Roma,  1884),  one  part  is  devoted  to  proving  "che  i  principii  della  gran- 
dezza di  Roma  [pagana],  la  legge  divina  o  naturale,  e  il  concetto  del  diritto,  dell'  uguagli- 
anza  e  della  liberta,  che  ne  deriva,  il  principio  dell'  autorita  del  senato  e  della  religione, 
si  trovano  nella  chiesa  elevati  all'  ordine  soprannaturale  o  in  istato  di  perfezione" 
(pp.  123-229). 


342 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.54. 


which  chance  has  preserved.  We  shall  pursue  the  order  we 
followed  in  our  survey  of  the  political  decline  of  the  age,  begin- 
ning with  the  Byzantine  Empire  and  the  North  African  Provinces, 
then  considering  the  Western  countries,  and,  last  of  all,  the 
Frankish  States.  Everywhere  the  Papacy  strove,  so  far  as  lay 
in  its  power,  to  retrieve  the  harm  done,  or  at  least  to  mitigate  the 
evils  of  the  period  by  the  blessings  of  ecclesiastical  unity,  and 
by  a  revival  of  faith. 

Byzantium  and  North  Africa 

541.  In  the  name  of  the  Byzantine  Empire,  Justinian,  the 
law-making  Emperor,  by  a  decree,  had  assured  Pope  John  II. 
that,  agreeably  with  ancient  tradition,  to  the  Church  of  Rome 
"  all  Bishops  throughout  the  Empire  must  be  subject,  as  to  the 
head  of  all  the  Churches."  1 

Pelagius  I.  and  Pelagius  II.  strove  to  uphold  this  principle 
against  the  schismatics  of  Istria.  Both  took  their  stand  on  the 
plenitude  of  power  inherent  in  the  Primacy  bestowed  by  God 
upon  the  Popes,  on  the  strength  of  which  they  insisted  that  the 
seceding  Bishops  should  be  reconciled  and  make  their  submission. 
Pelagius  I.  declared  invalid  beforehand  a  great  synodal  assembly, 
which  the  schismatics  intended  holding  in  support  of  their  party  ; 
in  his  turn,  the  second  Pope  of  this  name  forcibly  expounded  for 
their  benefit  such  passages  in  Holy  Scripture  as  testify  to  the 
divine  right  of  the  successors  of  Peter.2 

On  another  important  occasion  Pelagius  II.  was  compelled  to 
undertake  the  defence  of  unity  and  discipline  in  the  Empire,  and 
again  displayed  his  acute  consciousness  of  the  responsibilities  of  his 
office  and  his  insight  into  the  future.  The  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople,  John  IV.,  commonly  known  as  "  the  Faster,"  held  a  Council 
for  the  trial  of  Gregory,  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  at  which  assembly  all 
the  highest  magnates  of  the  Eastern  Church  either  took  part  in 
person  or  were  represented  by  delegates.  John,  who  was  not 
devoid  of  vanity,  who  shared  the  desire  for  self-aggrandisement 

1  Codex  Ius/tniant,  L.  I,  tit.  I,  1.  3. 

2  On  Pelagius  I.,  see  Neues  Archiv,  5  (1880),  553;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  1018  ; 
Mansi,  9,  715.  See  above,  p.  40,  note  1.  Langen  {Gesch.  der  row.  Kirche,2,  389), 
on  the  authority  of  this  letter,  wrongly  holds  the  Council  to  have  actually  met.  For 
Pelagius  II.,  see  especially  the  letter  to  Elias  of  Aquileia,  in  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  1054  ; 
Mansi,  9,  891  ;  and  in  Hartmann,  Append.  III.  to  the  Registrum  Gregorii  Afagnt, 
p.  443.    See  above,  p.  162  ff. 


no.  5421  PAPAL  APOCRISIARIES 


343 


which  had  long  possessed  the  See  of  Byzantium,  and,  in  addition, 
was  sure  of  being  supported  by  the  Court,  took  this  opportunity 
of  formally  assuming  the  title  of  "  CEcumenical  Patriarch."  In 
the  West,  however,  and  especially  in  Rome,  the  creation  of  a 
new  title,  Patriarcha  Universalis,  seemed  to  forebode  ill,  to 
threaten  confusion  in  the  old-established  hierarchy,  and,  at  the 
very  least,  to  be  at  variance  with  that  humility  and  charity  in 
which  lies  the  pledge  of  concord  and  unity.  Hence  the  Pope, 
regardless  of  the  position  occupied  by  the  Patriarch  at  the 
Court  of  Byzantium,  promptly  quashed  the  enactments  of  the 
Synod,  excepting  the  one  decree  regarding  the  accused  Patriarch 
of  Antioch.  John  he  summoned  to  renounce  the  new  title  he 
had  usurped.  He  even  forbade  his  deacon,  the  Papal  Apocrisiary 
in  Constantinople,  to  accompany  the  Patriarch  to  the  celebration 
of  the  Liturgy,  so  long  as  amends  were  not  made  for  the  wrong 
done.  The  actual  wording  of  the  Pope's  instructions  is  not 
known,  and  the  document  made  public  by  Baronius  has  no 
claim  to  authenticity  ;  the  fact  that  such  instructions  were  given 
can,  however,  be  otherwise  proved.1 

Gregory  the  Great,  the  successor  of  Pelagius  II.,  was 
obliged  to  take  fresh  steps  against  the  presumptuous  title,  until 
at  last,  thanks  to  a  peremptory  order  of  the  Emperor  Phocas, 
obedience  was  paid  to  the  Roman  See.  It  was  Boniface,  the 
one-time  Apocrisiary,  who,  in  607,  received  this  satisfaction, 
after  becoming  Pope  Boniface  III.2 

542.  The  Apocrisiaries  of  the  Holy  See  were  the  Pope's 
own  representatives  at  Constantinople.  From  the  latter  half  of 
the  fifth  century  such  permanent  representation  at  the  Imperial 
Court  had  gradually  become  the  rule,  and,  even  under  Leo  the 
Great,  the  Bishop  of  Cos  had  been  entrusted  with  similar  duties 
in  the  Greek  metropolis.  As  deacons,  Pope  Vigilius  and  Pope 
Pelagius  I.  had  both  been  Apocrisiaries  in  Constantinople.  Nor 
was  their  promotion  at  all  unusual,  for,  later  on,  it  often 
happened  that  those  accredited  to  the  Imperial  Court — usually 
Roman  deacons — eventually  became  Popes. 

1  Reg.  Gregorii  Magni,  5,  n.  41  (Maur.,  5,  n.  43),  to  the  Patriarchs  Eulogius  and 
Anastasius.  Cp.  5,  n.  44  (5,  n.  18,  Ioanni  ep.  Constantinop.;  9,  n.  156  (9,  n.  68),  Eusebio 
Thcssalonicensi,  &c. 

2  Liber  pont.,  1,  316,  n.  115.  Cp.  on  the  whole  controversy  and  its  previous  history, 
my  article  "  Oekume?iischcr  Patriarch  unci  Diener  dcr  Diener  Gottes,"  in  the  Zcitschr.fiir 
kath.  Theol.,  4  (1880),  468-523. 


344 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  543 


The  Apocrisiaries  were  not  usually  furnished  with  any  ex- 
ceptional powers,  and  were  therefore  not  on  the  same  footing 
as  the  Papal  Legates  {Legati  a  latere).  Generally  speaking, 
they  acted  as  channels  of  communication  between  the  Empire 
and  the  Holy  See,  to  which  they  sent  periodical  reports.  It 
was  from  this  duty  of  making  reports  and  answering  questions 
put  by  Rome  that  the  office  received  its  Latin  name  of 
"Responsalis,"  corresponding  to  the  Greek  title  "  Apocrisiarius." 
Bearing  in  mind  the  many  matters  concerning  the  whole  Eastern 
Church  which  were  dealt  with  by  the  Emperor  and  his  Patriarch, 
we  may  form  some  idea  of  the  importance  of  the  office  held  by 
the  Apocrisiaries,  who,  moreover,  were  not  only  Rome's  agents 
in  Church  affairs,  but,  particularly  since  the  Lombard  invasion, 
were  charged  with  the  task  of  bringing  before  the  Supreme 
Court  the  necessities  of  Italy  and  its  chief  City.  In  a  recently 
discovered  fragment  of  an  epistle,  we  find  Pelagius  I.  summoning 
home  his  deacon,  Sarpatus,  who  had  hitherto  discharged  the 
office  of  Apocrisiary  at  Constantinople,  because,  at  his  age,  he 
was  no  longer  able  to  cope  with  the  difficulties  of  his  position. 
"  An  Apocrisiary,"  says  Pelagius,  "  may  not  quit  the  Palace, 
even  for  an  hour."  1 

Unfortunately,  we  are  in  almost  entire  ignorance  of  the 
numerous  Papal  measures  and  decisions,  whether  intended  for 
East  or  West,  which  were  the  subject  of  discussion  at  the  Byzan- 
tine Court,  as  scarcely  anything  remains  of  the  correspondence  of 
the  Apocrisiaries.  One  step  taken  by  Pelagius  II.,  and  of  which 
we  hear  by  chance  in  another  letter,  may  be  mentioned  here.  He 
withdrew  the  bishopric  of  Thebae  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Metropolitan  of  Larissa,  placing  it  under  immediate  Papal  con- 
trol, because  the  Metropolitan  had  abused  his  authority.2 

543.  In  the  sorely-tried  Byzantine  provinces  of  North  Africa, 
the  first  duty  of  the  Holy  See  was  to  re-erect  the  hierarchy 
and  establish  good  order  in  the  Church.  In  so  doing,  Rome 
sought  to  effect  the  necessary  improvements  on  the  lines  already 
laid  down  by  the  Apostolic  See.3 

1  Neues  Archiv,  5  (1880),  559,  n.  63.  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  1035  :  "Apocrisiarius 
qui  est,  una  hora  de  palatio  recedere  non  potest  T 

2  Registrum  Gregorii  Magtii,  3,  n.  7  ;  Jaffe-Ewald,  n.  121 1. 

3  As  Pope  Agapetus  says  :  "  Quae  sedis  apostolicae principalitas perscripsitP  Mansi, 
8,  850.  Letter  to  Reparatus,  Archbishop  of  Carthage,  concerning  certain  cases,  Jaffe- 
Kaltenbr.,  n.  893. 


No.  543] 


THE  AFRICAN  CHURCH 


345 


The  African  Church  bore  clear  marks  of  its  Roman  origin 
and  of  its  intimate  subordination  to  the  Popes.  Nowhere  did 
Church  customs  display  a  character  more  thoroughly  Roman 
than  in  the  native  land  of  Cyprian,  Augustine,  Optatus,  and 
Fulgentius,  and,  even  to  this  day,  when  history  is  silent 
regarding  certain  details  of  religious  or  liturgical  observance 
practised  in  Rome,  we  may  safely  seek  information  from  African 
writers. 

In  Africa  the  Papacy  experienced  but  little  difficulty  in  wiping 
out  the  consequences  of  the  Three-Chapter  Schism.  The  dis- 
turbance due  to  this  schism  had  not  lasted  long  there,  in  spite 
of  the  partisan  spirit  shown  at  its  beginning.  This  was  the 
result  partly  of  the  steps  taken  by  the  Popes  to  pacify  and 
instruct,  partly,  too,  of  the  firmness  of  the  secular  government. 
In  Africa  the  secular  tribunals  strenuously  fulfilled  the  task 
assigned  them  by  the  State,  of  lending  Rome,  in  her  efforts  on 
the  Church's  behalf,  the  whole  weight  of  their  worldly  authority. 
Wherever  the  supreme  spiritual  authority  and  that  of  the 
representatives  of  Byzantium  went  hand  in  hand,  in  accordance 
with  the  theory  of  the  mutual  rights  and  duties  of  State  and 
Church,  there,  as  in  Africa,  the  power  of  the  Roman  Primate 
to  unite  all  forces,  and  to  further  the  Christian  cause,  was  even 
more  manifest  than  elsewhere.  The  leanings  of  the  African 
episcopate  and  ecclesiastical  writers  were  not,  however,  in  the 
direction  of  riot  and  schism.  Already,  before  this,  Ferrandus, 
the  deacon  of  Carthage,  one  of  the  most  outspoken  defenders 
of  the  Three  Chapters,  had  declared  that,  in  questions  of 
Catholic  doctrine,  "  the  Prelate  of  the  Apostolic  See "  was  the 
first  person  to  be  consulted,  for  both  truth  and  authority  rested 
with  him.  On  the  same  grounds,  his  fiery  colleague  in  the 
Three-Chapter  controversy,  Liberatus,  another  deacon  of 
Carthage,  had  betaken  himself  to  Rome,  in  order  to  have 
important  affairs  of  his  Church  examined  and  settled  at  the 
very  seat  of  judgment.1 

In  a  work  by  an  African  Bishop  of  the  fifth  century,  possibly 
Bishop  Voconius,  we  find  these  striking  words  :  "  Thou  canst 

1  Ferrandus  to  the  Scholasticus  Severus  of  Constantinople  regarding;  certain 
Christological  questions  :  "  hitcrroga,  vir  prudentissime,  si  quid  veritatis  aipis  andire, 
principaliter  apostolicae  sedis  aniistitem,  cuius  sana  doctrina  constat  iudicio  veritatis  et 
fulciiur  munimine  auctoritatis.  Interros;a  plzirimos  per  diver sa  loca  pontifices."  Ep.  5. 
P.L.,  LXVII.,  911. 


346  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.S44 

not  be  accounted  of  the  Catholic  Faith  if  thou  dost  not  teach 
the  Roman  Faith."  1 

The  Primacy  and  its  relations  with  the  Visigoths 
and  Britons 

544.  The  early  intercourse  between  the  Popes  and  Spain 
was  resumed  on  many  occasions  during  the  sixth  century,  and 
without  the  slightest  difficulty,  the  Bishops  of  that  region  being 
generally  full  of  respect  for  the  "General  Statutes"  sent  them 
by  Pope  Hormisdas.2 

Pope  Vigilius  answered  fully  and  incisively  the  questions 
which  Profuturus,  Bishop  of  Bracara  in  the  Spanish  kingdom 
of  the  Suevi,  put  to  him  as  his  supreme  ecclesiastical  superior. 
He  points  out  that  the  "  Rule  of  Faith  "  has  been  committed  to 
his  care,  and  that  it  is  the  right  and  duty  of  the  Apostolic  See  to 
watch  over  Catholic  discipline.  Among  other  things  he  sent 
Profuturus  "the  text  of  the  canonical  prayer  [i.e.  the  Canon  of 
the  Mass]  which  we,"  he  says,  "have  received  from  Apostolic 
tradition."  3 

At  the  second  Council  of  Bracara  in  563,  the  Pope's  reply 
was  solemnly  read  aloud,  and  the  decrees  of  the  Bishops  there 
assembled  show  them  to  have  taken  it  as  a  guide,  for  instance, 
their  decision  that  the  Roman  Canon  should  be  followed  at  Mass. 
Similarly  the  Synod  in  its  measures  against  the  after-effects  of 
Priscillianism  expressly  followed  the  instructions  sent  by  Leo 
the  Great  in  letters  to  the  episcopate  of  Gallaecia  and  to  Bishop 
Turibius,  which  were  likewise  read  at  the  assembly.4 

A  whole  line  of  Bishops,  distinguished  alike  for  learning  and 
zeal,  began  soon  after  to  labour  among  the  Visigoths  in  a  spirit  of 

1  "  Non  crcderis  veram  fidcm  ienere  catkolicam,  quae  fidem  non  doces  esse  servanda»i 
rotnanam."    Mai,  Nova patrum  biblioth.,  1,  273.    Morin,  Revue  BitUd.,  1896,  p.  341. 

2  Pope  Hormisdas  to  the  Spanish  Bishops  (April  2,  517).  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  787, 
with  the  expression  "  Generalia  Statieta." 

3  The  letter  of  Vigilius  has  come  down  to  us  in  the  Collectio  Hispaita;  see  HlNSCHlUS, 
Pscudo-Isid.,  710  (cp.  p.  cv) ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  907.  Mansi,  9,  29,  requires  correc- 
tion. Profuturus  desired  to  be  informed  "quid  iuxta  catholicam  disciplinam  tettcat 
apostolicae  sedis  auctoritas."  Vigilius  sent  him  "  textum  ca?ionicae  precis,  quern  ex 
apostolica  traditio7ic  susccpimusP 

4  On  the  reading  of  the  " insttuctio  sedis  aposio/icae"  at  the  Council,  see  MANSI,  9, 
776  ff.  In  cap.  4  the  Synod,  alluding  to  the  Canon  sent  to  Profuturus,  decrees:  "ex 
eodem  ordiiie  missae  celebrentur"  ;  in  cap.  5  it  also  directs  the  "  ordo  baptizandV  received 
by  him  to  be  observed  ;  in  cap.  14  steps  are  taken  against  a  Priscillianist  usage.  On  the 
reading  aloud  of  Leo  the  Great's  letter,  see  Mansi,  773.  Cp.  Hefele,  Conciliengesch?, 
3,  IS- 


No.  545] 


GREAT  BRITAIN 


347 


conformity  to  Rome  and  of  sincere  obedience  to  its  laws,  par- 
ticularly for  such  as  had  been  enacted  for  Spain.  Such  were 
Leander,  Bishop  of  Hispalis  (Seville),  and  Isidore,  another 
Bishop  of  the  same  city.  The  collections  of  canons  made  in 
Spain  strongly  insist  on  the  obligatory  character  of  Papal 
decrees.  The  compiler  of  the  collection  usually  known  as 
Hispana,  who  wrote  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century, 
says  in  his  preface  that,  besides  the  conciliar  decrees,  he  quotes 
also  those  of  the  Popes,  "of  which  the  authority,  thanks  to  the 
supremacy  of  the  Apostolic  See,  is  not  less  than  that  of  the 
Councils."  1 

545.  If  we  now  cross  the  Channel  and  glance  at  the  British 
Church,  we  there  meet  with  a  somewhat  isolated  nation  whose 
religious  development  had  been,  indeed,  peculiar,  but  whose 
adherence  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  submission  to  the  bond 
of  union  she  furnished,  admit  of  no  manner  of  doubt. 

The  ancient  Church  which  the  English  missionaries  found 
among  the  old  Celtic  population  of  the  country,  like  the  Scottish 
Churches,  differed  only  on  certain  points  of  discipline  from  the 
other  Churches  of  the  West.  The  differences  were  in  such 
matters  as  the  reckoning  of  Easter,  the  manner  of  keeping  the 
law  of  clerical  celibacy,  and  the  shape  of  the  tonsure  worn  by 
the  clergy,  things  of  small  moment  which  nevertheless  gave  rise 
to  considerable  friction  with  the  missionaries.  No  doctrinal 
divergence,  however,  existed,  least  of  all  concerning  the  Roman 
Primacy.  Any  divergence  upon  such  a  subject,  had  it  been 
present,  would  certainly  have  been  brought  forward  in  the  con- 
troversies regarding  lesser  matters,  for  instance,  during  the  nego- 
tiations of  Augustine  of  Canterbury  with  the  Celtic  Bishops  of 
the  West,  or  during  the  quarrel  between  Wilfrid  and  Colman. 
As,  however,  Augustine  demanded  merely  that  the  Celts"  should 
conform  to  certain  usages  of  the  Roman  Church  and  support  him 
in  his  endeavours  to  convert  the  Anglo-Saxons,  he  must  have 
taken  it  for  granted  that  the  Britons  acknowledged  the  Roman 
Church,  otherwise  his  duty  would  have  been  to  discuss  this 
momentous  question  first.2 

1  Maassen,  Gesc/i.  dcr  Qucllen,  p.  227  :  "in  quibus pro  culmine  sedis  apostolicae  non 
impar  conciliorum  exstat  auctoritas." 

2  See  Funk,  Zur  Gcsch.  der  altbritischen  Kirche,  in  the  Hist.  Jahrb.,  4  (1883),  5-44, 
p.  19,  and  also  in  his  Kirchengesch.  Ab/i.,  1,  431  ff. 


348 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  545 


The  Irish  Bishops,  assembled  at  Lenia  (Leighlin)  about  the 
year  630,  also  seem  to  have  acted  according  to  the  ancient  customs 
of  their  country  when  they  despatched  an  embassy  to  the  Pope 
to  settle  the  Paschal  question.  St.  Patrick,  the  Apostle  of  Ireland, 
without  a  doubt  preached  and  established  the  doctrine  which  he 
had  himself  received,  and  which  comprised  also  belief  in  the 
Roman  Primacy.  The  Irish  Collection  of  Canons  called  after 
St.  Patrick  attributes  to  him,  the  statement  that,  in  difficult  ques- 
tions, a  decision  must  be  sought  of  the  Pope.  Such  a  principle 
was  in  no  wise  at  variance  with  the  doctrine  he  had  taught,  for 
Patrick,  in  his  so-called  third  Dictum,  now  recognised  as  genuine, 
urges  the  claims  of  Rome  and  the  Empire :  "  The  Church  of  the 
Scots,"  he  says,  "is  a  Church  of  the  Romans.  Be  Christians, 
but  in  such  wise  as  to  be  Romans  also."  1 

An  instructive  commentary  on  these  words  is  found  in  a 
remark,  already  quoted,  of  Columban,  the  great  Irish  founder  of 
monasteries,  who  acknowledged  to  the  Pope  that  he  and  his  were 
"  bound  to  the  Chair  of  Peter,"  and  who  admitted  that,  if  Rome 
was  great  in  the  eyes  of  his  countrymen,  this  was  not  so  much  on 
account  of  the  City's  celebrity,  but  because  it  was  the  seat  of  the 
Apostle.2 

Few  indeed  are  the  traces  remaining  of  intercourse  between 
the  early  British  Church  and  the  Papacy,  and  there  is  no  doubt, 
as  we  have  already  conceded,  that  the  growth  of  this  insular 
Church  was  to  some  extent  peculiar  and  independent.  In  spite 
of  this,  modern  research  has  been  able  to  qualify  as  utterly 
untenable  the  statement  made  not  so  long  ago,  that  the  Celtic 
Church  was  outside  the  sphere  of  the  Apostolic  See,  and  was 
quite  free  of  Roman  influence.3 

1  For  National  Synod  of  Lenia,  see  Mansi,  io,  6ii  ;  Hefele,  3,  78.  According  to 
Prosper  (Chron.,  an.  431),  St.  Palladius  was  sent  by  Pope  Celestine  as  a  missionary  to 
the  Britons.  On  St.  Patrick,  see  Duchesne,  Bull,  crit.,  1888,  p.  281  ff.,  his  review  of 
W.  STOKES,  The  Tripartite  Life  of  Patrick ;  BELLESHEIM,  Liter.  Rundschau,  1889,  336 
ff.  ;  Gesch.  der  hath.  Kirche  in  Irland,  1,  37  ff.,  128  ff.  Dictum  III. :  Aecclesia  Scotorum 
immo  Romanorum,  ut  Christiani  ita  et  Romani  sitis. 

2  See  above,  p.  184. 

3  Consistorialrath  Ebrard  {Die  iroschottische  Missionskirche  des  sechslen,  siebenten 
und  achten  fahrh.,  Giitersloh,  1873)  set  out  to  prove  not  only  that  the  Celtic  Church 
was  free  from  Popery,  but  that,  on  account  of  its  teaching,  it  was  a  forerunner  of 
Protestantism.  For  the  other  side,  see  Funk,  p.  7  f.,  and  Bellesheim,  Gesch.  d.  k.  K. 
in  Irland,  1,  216. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  ROMAN  SEE  AND  THE  FRANKS 

546.  Though  among  the  Franks  ecclesiastical  life  had  small 
freedom,  the  weak  episcopate  being  controlled  by  the  Merovin- 
gian kings,  and  the  Church  practically  reduced  to  a  national 
institution,  yet  there  are  many  things  which  make  it  clear  that  the 
Frankish  Church  considered  herself  one  of  the  daughters  of  the 
great  family  presided  over  by  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  the  custo- 
dian of  unity.  Bishops  such  as  Caesarius  of  Aries  and  Avitus  of 
Vienne,  who  excelled  their  own  period,  and  expressed  so  well  the 
bond  which  unites  all  Churches  in  Rome,1  were  no  longer  to  be 
met  in  the  Frankish  States,  now  riven  asunder  by  ceaseless  feuds. 
There  everything  had  become  petty,  for  the  maladministration, 
the  avarice,  and  ambition  of  the  princely  families,  while  stimulat- 
ing intrigues  and  servility,  discouraged  all  real  progress.  The 
memory  of  the  many  famous  leaders  of  the  early  Church  of 
Gaul  was,  however,  still  cherished,  and,  in  the  midst  of  all  the 
oppression  and  the  fratricidal  wars,  the  protection  and  wholesome 
influence  of  the  Mother-Church  of  Rome  were  never  foreotten. 

Among  the  Frankish  Councils,  which  expressed  in  words  their 
devotion  to  Rome,  the  second  Council  of  Tours  in  567  holds  a 
prominent  place.  The  assembled  Bishops  declared  that  they 
were  only  following  the  traditions  of  past  times,  in  obeying  the 
Papal  decrees,  for  "  what  priest  would  dare  gainsay  the  enactments 
of  the  Apostolic  See  ? " 2 

The  Councils  of  Aurelianum  (Orleans),  in  538,  541,  and  549, 
either  express  in  words  their  submission  to  the  Roman  See,  or 
else  clearly  imply  such  submission.  The  ninth  canon  of  the 
Council  of  Agatha  (Agde)  in  506,  and  the  preamble  of  the  second 
Council  of  Arausio  (Orange),  in  529,  might  also  be  quoted  in  this 
connection.    The  Metropolitan  of  the  Province  of  Lugdunensis 

1  See  present  work,  vol.  ii.  p.  292  ff. 

2  Cp.  Con.  Tur.,  can.  21.  Mansi,  9,  798  (can.  20).  Ed.  Maassen  (Mon.  Germ, 
hist.,  Aactt.  an  tig.,  Condlia  aevi  mcrov.,  1893),  p.  128  :  "  Quis  sacerdotum  contra  decre- 
talia,  quae  a  sede  apostolica  processerunt,  no  ere  pracsumat  t  .  .  .  Patres  nostri  hoc  semper 
custodierunt,  quod  eorum  praecepit  auctoritas." 

349 


35° 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  547 


Secunda,  Leo  of  Senones  (Sens)  lodged  an  appeal,  to  be  heard 
either  by  the  Pope  of  Rome  or  by  a  Council,  against  a  certain 
unheard-of  encroachment  by  King  Childebert  I.  on  the  Church's 
rights.  Bishop  Aunacharius  of  Antissiodorum  speaks  of  Rome 
as  a  City  revered  by  the  whole  world,  where  the  direction  of  all 
Churches  is  concentrated.1 

547.  The  Archbishops  of  Aries,  owing  to  the  facility  their 
Metropolitan  See  afforded  for  intercourse  between  Rome  and  the 
Frankish  countries,  were  usually  appointed  by  the  Popes  "  Vicars 
of  the  Apostolic  See"  for  Gaul.  Strictly  speaking,  they  were  Vicars 
only  for  that  part  of  Gaul  to  which  Aries,  amidst  the  incessant 
political  changes,  happened  to  belong,  for  there  only  could  the 
Apostolic  Vicar  exercise  in  practice  his  plenary  powers,  though 
both  in  Rome  and  at  Aries  itself  the  feeling  prevailed  that  the 
See  of  Aries  should  convey  to  the  whole  of  Gaul  the  influence  of 
the  Head  of  the  Church  for  the  benefit  both  of  unity  and  disci- 
pline. In  545,  as  previously  stated,  Pope  Vigilius  raised  Auxanius 
to  the  dignity  of  a  Vicar,  and,  in  546,  did  the  same  for  his  suc- 
cessor Aurelian.  Pelagius  I.,  in  557,  likewise  promoted  Sapaudus 
to  the  Vicariate,  and  Gregory  I.,  in  595,  Virgilius.  The  first 
three  were  to  be  Vicars  throughout  the  kingdom  of  Childebert  I., 
the  fourth  throughout  that  of  Childebert  II.2 

According  to  the  usual  letter  of  authority  sent  by  Rome  to 
these  Apostolic  Vicars  on  their  nomination,  they  were  expected  to 
watch  over  the  course  of  ecclesiastical  affairs,  and  to  report  on  it 
to  the  Holy  See  ;  all  Councils  were  to  be  held  under  their  presi- 
dency, and  they  were  to  settle,  "in  the  name  of  the  Apostolic 
See,"  the  disputes  which  might  arise  among  the  Bishops.  Im- 
portant matters,  however,  particularly  such  as  related  to  the  Faith, 
and  which  could  not  be  decided  in  Gaul,  were  to  be  referred  to 

1  Aurelianum,  anno  538,  can.  3  ;  ed.  MAASSEN,  74 ;  Mansi,  9,  12  (can.  4).  Aurelianum, 
anno  541,  can.  1  ;  Maassen,  187  ;  Mansi,  9,  11.  Aurelianum,  anno  549,  can.  1  ;  MAAS- 
SEN, 101  ;  Mansi,  9,  127.  Agde  and  Arausio,  see  Maassen,  Gesch.  der  Quellen,  p.  227. 
Leo  of  Sens,  in  P.L.,  LXVIII.,  11.  In  his  letter,  written  in  the  forties  of  the  sixth 
century,  we  read:  "usque  ad  papae  7iotitiam  vel  synodalem  audicntiam?  &c.  On 
Aunacharius,  cp.  the  letter  to  him  of  Pelagius  II.,  in  P.L.,  LXXII.,705  ;  ed.  GUNDLACH 
(Mon.  Germ.  hist.  Epp.  3),  448;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  1048:  "si  mundo  venerabilem 
iudicatis  hanc  urbem,  si  adpacem  sedis  apostolicae  cunctarum  regere  moderamina  ecclesi- 
arum  praedicatis,"  &c. 

2  See  present  work,  vol.  ii.  p.  298.  Langen  (Gesch.  der  rom.  Kirche,  2,  411),  without 
adding  any  proof,  states  that  Aunacharius  of  Antissiodorum  was  a  Papal  Vicar  "of 
Gaul."  The  Papal  letter  (Oct.  31,  586)  to  which  he  refers  contains  nothing  about  this 
nomination. 


No.  547] 


PAPAL  VICARS 


351 


Rome.  Bishops  were  not  at  liberty  to  refuse  attending  such 
Synods  as  were  convened  by  the  Apostolic  Vicar,  and,  if  unavoid- 
ably detained,  had  at  least  to  send  a  priest  or  deacon,  who  might 
report  the  decisions  arrived  at  by  the  Vicar  in  the  Pope's  name, 
to  all  of  which  unconditional  obedience  was  due.1 

With  the  aid  of  the  position  and  activity  of  the  Papal  Vicar  at 
Aries,  as  Pelagius  I.  wrote  to  his  own  Vicar  Sapaudus,  the  Popes 
trusted  that  the  eternal  stability  of  the  everlasting  Rock  (Peter, 
the  foundation-stone  of  the  Church)  would  remain  manifest  in 
the  authority  of  the  successors  of  the  Apostle  and  their  Vicars. 
"The  holy  Fathers,"  he  says,  "willed  that  matters  should  be  so 
arranged,  and  our  forefathers  transmitted  the  necessary  powers  to 
yours.  .  .  .  Thus,  through  God's  grace,  was  the  holy  universal 
Church  of  God  governed  by  our  predecessors,  who  bestowed  a 
portion  of  their  cares  on  others."  2 

Few  notices  exist,  among  the  sparse  records  preserved,  of  the 
measures  taken  by  the  Popes  through  their  Vicars  in  the  Prankish 
lands,  or  of  the  Vicars'  intervention  in  Church  affairs ;  in  all 
likelihood  their  interference  was  not  often  called  for. 

We  do  hear,  nevertheless,  that  in  545  Pope  Vigilius  com- 
missioned his  Vicar  Auxanius  to  hold  judgment  upon  Praetextatus, 
Bishop  of  Cavellio  (Cavaillon),  and  to  see  that  among  the  Franks 
Orders  were  bestowed  canonically ;  further,  that  Sapaudus  the  Vicar 
gave  Pope  Pelagius  I.  due  notice  of  a  certain  outrage  committed 
against  the  Church,  upon  which  Pelagius  requested  him  to  send 
fuller  information  ;  finally,  that  Pelagius  lodged  a  formal  complaint 
against  the  conduct  of  King  Childebert  in  having,  in  a  case  in  which 
Sapaudus  the  Archbishop  and  Vicar  was  concerned,  summoned  him 
to  take  his  trial,  with  his  chief  suffragan-Bishop  as  his  judge.3 

In  another  case,  we  learn  that  Pelagius  addressed  a  strongly 

1  Cp.  especially  the  letter  of  Gregory  I.,  sent  on  nomination  of  Virgilius,  Archbishop 
of  Aries  (Registrum,  5,  n.  58,  59,  60  (ed.  Maur.,  5,  n.  53,  54,  55);  Jaffe-Ewald, 
n  1374,  1375,  1376).  In  the  letter  to  the  Vicar's  suffragans  we  read  (5,  n.  59):  "  Quae  a 
nostra  Vicario  Deo  auxiliante  fuerint  definita,  ad  eitin  qui  absens  est,  per  ipsum  quern 
miserit,  Jida  relatione  perveniant,  ut  inconvulsa  finnitate  serventur,  et  nullus  ea  quae 
statuimus  audeat  occasionis  excusatione  vio/are." 

2  To  Sapaudus,  ed.  Gundlach  (Mon.  Germ,  hist.,  Epp.,  t.  3 :  Episiolae  merov.  et 
carol,  aevi,  1892),  73  ;  P.L.,  LXI V.,  405  ff. ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  945  ff.  :  "...  Sic  ergo 
participata  sollicitudine  sanctum  Dei  universalem  ecclesiam  nostri per  Dei gratiam  rexere 
maiores." 

3  Vigilius  to  Auxanius,  ed.  GUNDLACH,  62  :  "  Licet  fraternitati  vestrae,  apostolicae 
scdis  vicibus  attributis,  quas  directa  auctoritate  commisimus,  genera/iter  emergentium 
causarum  sit  discutiendarum  licentia,  tamen  .  .  .  specia/iter,"  Sec.  Sapaudus  and 
Pelagius  I.,  Gundlach,  69;  P.L.,  LXIX.,  401  ;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  941.  Pelagius 
and  Childebert,  Gundlach,  76  ;  P.L.,  LXIX.,  406;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  948. 


352 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  548 


worded  circular  letter  to  Sapaudus  and  other  Bishops,  on  account 
of  the  continuance  of  gross  abuses  in  the  country.  Especially  did 
he  reprove  the  premature  bestowal  of  episcopal  consecration  among 
the  Franks,  and  lax  toleration  of  superstitious  remnants  of  idolatry. 
The  Pope  states  that  it  had  there  become  possible  for  a  layman 
to  be  in  a  single  day  ordained  cleric,  acolyth,  subdeacon,  deacon, 
presbyter,  and  even  Bishop.  The  complaint  was  not  unfounded, 
but  this  abuse,  and  others  likewise  prevalent  in  Gaul  arose  through 
appointing  to  bishoprics  men  who  were  totally  unqualified  for  the 
post,  and  who  owed  their  advancement  solely  to  the  Court  or  to 
powerful  factions.1 

548.  Of  two  Bishops,  whose  habits  betray  the  barbarity  of 
Gaul  during  these  ages,  an  account  has  been  left  by  the  historian 
of  the  Franks  in  a  narrative  which  bears  the  stamp  of  truth. 
Their  story,  which  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  pass  over  in  silence, 
also  has  a  bearing  on  the  relations  of  the  Roman  Primacy  with 
the  Frankish  lands. 

"  In  the  battle  of  Mustiae-Calmes,"  writes  Gregory  of  Tours, 
"there  were  two  brothers,  Salunius  and  Sagittarius,  both  Bishops 
(the  former  of  Ebredunum,  the  latter  of  Vapingum).  Their 
weapon  was  not,  however,  the  heavenly  cross,  but  they  bore  secular 
arms,  helmets,  and  breastplates,  and,  what  is  more,  with  their  own 
hands  they  were  reported  to  have  slain  many.  .  .  .  There  was  also 
much  murmuring  against  them.  When  they  reached  their  own 
Bishoprics  and  could  now  again  do  as  they  willed,  they  began  a  mad 
course  of  robbery,  bloodshed,  murder,  adultery,  and  other  crimes. 
On  one  occasion,  with  a  troop  armed  with  swords  and  darts,  they 
attacked  Victor,  the  Bishop  of  Tricastra,  who  was  then  engaged 
in  celebrating  the  anniversary  of  his  elevation.  Bursting  in,  they 
stript  him  of  his  clothing,  thrashed  the  servants,  and  made  off  with 
the  plate  and  all  that  had  been  prepared  for  the  feast,  leaving  the 
unfortunate  Bishop  in  a  sad  state  of  vexation.  On  hearing  of 
this,  King  Guntram  directed  the  holding  of  a  Council  in  the  city 
of  Lugdunum." 2 

1  JAFFE-KALTENBR.,  n.  978.  The  letter,  first  made  known  through  the  British 
Collection,  and  written  between  558  and  560,  was  not,  as  Jaffe  states,  addressed  to 
Sapaudus  only,  but  also  to  other  Bishops  (" quis  ex  vobis  .  .  .  7'cddihirus  est  rationem" 
&c),  perhaps  to  all  the  Bishops  of  the  Vicariate.  The  bestowal  of  Holy  Orders  on 
monks  is  also  dealt  with. 

2  Greg.  Tur.,  4,c.  42  ;  5,0.20(21).  Mustiae  Calmes  is  perhaps  Les  Chamousses,  near 
Embrun  (Ebredunum).  Vapingum  is  Gap  ;  the  city  of  Tricastra  is  S.  Paul  Trois-Chateaux. 


No.  549] 


ROYAL  PRIVILEGES 


353 


Gregory  further  narrates  how  the  Council,  held  under  the 
presidency  of  Nicetius,  found  both  of  them  guilty  and  deposed 
them.  The  culprits  complained,  however,  to  the  King,  who  was 
still  well-disposed  towards  them,  and  begged  his  permission  to  go 
to  the  Pope.  "  This  petition  the  King  granted,  and  even  gave 
them  letters  to  take  with  them.  Coming  to  Pope  John  (III.)» 
they  told  how  they  had  been  ousted  from  office,  though  the  charges 
against  them  were  of  a  most  trivial  character.  Upon  this  the 
Pope  sent  letters  to  the  King,  commanding  him  to  reinstate  the 
supplicants,  which  the  King  also  did  without  further  ado,  first 
administering  due  rebuke.  The  Bishops  were,  however,  past 
redemption.  .  .  .  Every  day  they  entangled  themselves  more  and 
more  in  sin.  .  .  .  They  raged  against  their  burghers,  and,  in  their 
fury,  even  flogged  people  till  they  bled.  On  new  complaints  being 
carried  to  the  King,  he  again  summoned  them  to  appear  before 
him." 

Our  authority  proceeds  to  recount  how  they  were  condemned 
to  solitary  confinement  in  a  monastery,  particularly  because 
Sagittarius  had  indulged  in  imprudent  and  insulting  remarks  re- 
garding Guntram's  illegitimate  offspring.  They  were  not  released 
till  long  afterwards,  and  then  only  for  a  special  reason.  The 
eldest  son  of  the  King  fell  sick,  and  the  partisans  of  the  condemned 
men  persuaded  the  King  that  it  was  a  judgment  from  Heaven, 
because  he  had  condemned  innocent  Bishops  to  do  penance  in 
monasteries.  Sagittarius  and  Salunius  for  a  while  after  their 
release  behaved  themselves  a  little  better  and  made  some  show  of 
zeal,  but  they  soon  relapsed  into  their  evil  ways,  passing  their 
days  in  revelry  and  in  the  company  of  women  with  whom  they 
misconducted  themselves. 

"  By  the  King's  order,"  a  Synod  was  at  last  held  in  579  at 
Cabillonum  (Chalons-sur-Saone),  which  again  deposed  the  epis- 
copal pair  and  sent  them  to  prison.  Both,  however,  contrived  to 
escape,  and  began  wandering  about  the  country,  till  they  met  with 
the  reward  of  their  misconduct.  Sagittarius  was  killed  when  on 
a  warlike  excursion.1 

549.  The  account  by  Gregory  of  Tours  which  we  have  just 
given  with  its  grimness  unimpaired,  shows  a  peculiarity  of  those 
times,  viz.  the  part  taken  by  the  King  in  episcopal  trials,  in 


VOL.  III. 


1  Greg.  Tur.,  5,  c.  27  (28). 


z 


354 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [No.  549 


Councils,  and  in  the  execution  of  ecclesiastical  sentences.  The 
Bishops  themselves,  out  of  courtly  habit,  were  wont  to  seek  the 
King's  assistance  for  their  own  affairs.  Even  worthy  Pontiffs, 
amidst  the  savage  lawlessness  that  prevailed  everywhere,  felt  un- 
equal to  their  task  without  the  support  of  the  secular  power.  The 
Popes  were  helpless  face  to  face  with  such  a  sad  state  of  affairs, 
and  it  may  even  be  that  their  knowledge  of  these  disorders  was  of 
the  slightest,  for  the  wars  prevailing  also  in  Italy  created  a  chasm, 
and  interfered  with  all  intercourse.  The  Roman  See  accordingly 
as  a  rule  left  the  settlement  of  ecclesiastical  disputes  to  the  Bishops 
and  the  rulers  of  the  land,  as  Pope  John  III.  may  well  have  done 
in  the  case  narrated,  where  he  may  have  set  aside  merely  tempo- 
rarily the  sentence  against  the  two  deposed  Bishops,  leaving  the 
matter  to  be  tried  and  judgment  given  at  a  Synod  held  in  the 
country  itself.  Moreover  in  many  cases  the  intervention  of  the 
Holy  See  must  have  been  hampered  by  disagreements  among  the 
Bishops,  and  by  the  jealousy,  ambition,  and  weakness  rife  among 
them. 

As  regards  the  Vicariate  of  Aries  in  particular,  it  is  certain 
that  it  never  quite  fulfilled  the  expectations  of  the  Popes,  the 
causes  responsible  for  its  failure  being  the  incapacity  of  the  Vicars, 
the  political  chaos  existing  in  the  country,  and  the  character  of  the 
authorities,  secular  and  ecclesiastic. 

It  is,  however,  wrong  to  state,  as  certain  authors  do,  that  the 
rights  of  the  Archbishop  of  Aries  were  never  once  acknowledged, 
even  at  the  greater  Councils  in  which,  by  virtue  of  his  Vicariate, 
he  was  entitled  to  preside.  On  the  contrary,  no  single  Council 
took  place  in  his  presence  at  which  he  did  not  preside.  In 
those  Councils  in  which  he  does  not  appear  as  president,  he  had 
reasons  for  being  absent,  and,  being  under  no  obligation  to  attend, 
sent  no  representative.1 

Among  the  Franks  of  that  day,  the  Popes  not  only  tacitly 
tolerated  an  extension  of  the  King's  authority  to  Church  matters, 
but  actually  promoted  it,  whenever  they  fancied  it  would  prove 
profitable  to  the  commonwealth.    It  would  have  been  difficult  to 

1  See  my  argument  against  Loning  and  Hauck,  in  Rom  unci  die  frdnkische  Kirche, 
uornehmlich  i»i  sechsten  Jahrh.,  in  Zcitschr.fiir  kath.  Theol.,  14  (1890),  447-493,  p.  484  ff., 
and  in  my  Anal,  rom.,  1,  333  ff.  This  article  may  serve  to  complete  what  is  said  of  the 
relations  between  Rome  and  the  Franks.  In  DUCHESNE,  Fastes  e'piscopaux de  Cancientte 
Gaule  (1893,  torn.  1),  the  facts  concerning  the  Papal  Primacy  are  scattered  throughout 
the  work,  agreeably  of  course  with  the  scope  of  the  book. 


No.  549] 


ROYAL  PRIVILEGES 


355 


find  other  means  of  repressing  the  lawlessness  prevailing  among 
the  subjects,  and,  frequently,  the  good  will  of  the  monarch  could 
be  secured  for  the  religious  welfare  of  the  people  only  at  the  cost 
of  such  concessions.  Pelagius  I.,  for  instance,  tells  the  piously 
disposed  King  Childebert  I.,  upon  whom  he  set  great  hopes, 
that  "  God  willed  that  your  Majesty  should  assume  in  this  period 
the  defence  of  the  Church's  peace  against  her  enemies,"  and,  on 
another  occasion,  he  reminds  him  that  God  has  confided  the 
Churches  to  his  protection.  He  takes  care,  however,  to  impress 
upon  him  that  he  must  not  venture  to  deal  with  Church  affairs  as 
he  pleases,  but  must  rather  strive  to  see  that  the  Church's  ancient 
rules  are  duly  carried  out.  In  the  case  mentioned  above,  of  the 
dispute  with  Sapaudus  the  Vicar,  Pelagius  does  not  scruple  to 
reprimand  the  sovereign  for  having  infringed  the  Church's  law  ; 
nor  may  such  an  infringement  be  allowed  to  pass  without  a 
protest,  lest  it  should  become  a  precedent,  and  lead  to  confusion 
in  the  Churches ;  whilst  fully  acknowledging  the  praiseworthy 
manner  in  which  the  King  takes  to  heart  the  care  of  the  Church, 
it  is  nevertheless  his  duty  to  insure  that  no  further  steps  be  taken 
to  the  detriment  of  the  Church's  precepts ;  if  Childebert  wishes  to 
be  accounted  truly  pious,  he  must  observe  the  ordinances  of  the 
Holy  Fathers.1 

The  Popes,  when  appointing  the  Archbishops  of  Aries  to  the 
Vicariate,  and  bestowing  on  them  the  pallium,  in  the  accompany- 
ing letter,  wisely  laid  weight  on  the  fact  that  this  distinction  was 
given  at  the  King's  request.  There  was  a  certain  advantage  in 
waiting  until  both  the  King  and  the  Archbishop  had  approached 
the  Holy  See  with  a  petition  for  the  nomination,  for  in  this  way 
the  danger  was  averted  of  any  representative  being  appointed  to 
whom  the  King  might  have  taken  exception. 

In  one  such  case  Pope  Vigilius  took  this  diplomatic  step,  not 
only  at  the  Court  of  Childebert,  the  Frankish  King,  but  also  at 
the  Court  of  Byzantium,  and  refused  to  create  Auxanius  Vicar 
and  bestow  on  him  the  pallium  until  the  matter  had  been  referred 
to  the  Emperor  Justinian.     Such  hesitation  was,  however,  an 

1  "  Deus  gloriam  vcstram  contra  inimicos  pads  ecclesiasticae  misericorditer  hoc  tem- 
pore praeparavit!'  Pelagius  I.  to  Childebert,  GUNDLACH,  8o ;  P.L.,  LXIX.,  408  ; 
Jaffk-Kaltenbr.,  n.  946  and  908.  "  Ecclesiae  quas  vobis  Deus  credidit,"  &c,  Gund- 
lach,  76  ;  P.L.,  LXIX.,  406;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  948.  "  Non  aliter  Deo  nostro  recte 
potest  regalis  devotio  famulari,  nisi  providentia  eius  ecclesiasticorum  ordinum  ser7>etur 
integritas"  Ibid. 


356  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [no.  549 

entirely  new  phenomenon  in  the  history  of  the  Western  Church. 
It  is  true,  so  he  remarks,  he  might  have  settled  the  matter  with- 
out the  Emperor's  consent,  but  he  prefers  thus  to  demonstrate  his 
respect.  Such  a  policy  of  deference  was  peculiar  to  Vigilius,  and 
is  perhaps  explained  by  the  character  of  this  unhappy  Pope,  and 
by  the  relations  in  which  he  stood  to  Byzantium.  Of  the  other 
Popes,  one  only,  viz.  Gregory  the  Great,  to  a  certain  extent 
followed  the  example  of  Vigilius,  in  seeking  the  Emperor's  advice 
before  investing  a  Frankish  Bishop  with  the  pallium ;  he  too 
seems,  however,  to  have  done  so  only  in  view  of  the  strained 
relations  existing  between  Rome  and  the  suspicious  Byzantine 
Court.1 

The  dealings  of  the  Papacy  with  the  new-born  Western  States, 
now  occupying  the  ancient  Provinces  of  the  Empire,  were  watched 
in  the  East  with  ill-disguised  jealousy  and  suspicion.  Byzan- 
tium, with  its  rigid  conception  of  legitimacy,  found  it  difficult  to 
relinquish  the  idea  that  the  Emperor  had  a  certain  paramount 
authority  over  those  countries. 

Many  in  the  West  who  were  still  Roman  at  heart,  and  among 
them  the  Popes,  felt  moreover  that,  in  the  right  order  of  things, 
the  New  Nations  should  not  only  be  on  friendly  terms,  but  also 
show  their  respect  to  the  great  Emperor  of  the  Christian  World. 
The  Franks  themselves,  too,  now  that  they  had  been  converted 
and  had  learnt  to  appreciate  Roman  civilisation,  were  technically 
no  longer  mere  barbarians  {barbarae  nat tones,  gentes),  who,  accord- 
ing to  the  theory  in  vogue,  should  by  right  be  subjugated  to  the 
Roman  Empire.  Conformably  with  the  prevalent  views,  approved 
also  by  the  Church,  they  were  fitted  to  become  honoured  allies  of 
the  Roman  State,  to  which,  however,  the  highest  rank  was  always 
due.  This  is  what  Pope  Pelagius  I.  means  when  he  calls  the 
Roman  Emperor  the  "Father"  of  the  Frankish  Kings,  and  this 
in  an  official  document,  addressed  to  the  Kings  themselves  with 
no  fear  of  wounding  their  susceptibilities.    Pope  Vigilius  also 

1  Vigilius  to  Auxanius:  Reason  demands  ("  ratio  postulat")  that  the  Emperor  should 
be  consulted  ;  in  this  wise  we  give  him  "  honor  fideiP  GuNDLACH,  58  ;  P.L.,  LXIX., 
26;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  912.  Cp.  second  letter  to  the  same,  Gundlach,  61  ;  P.L., 
LXIX.,  27;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  913;  also  that  to  Aurelian,  Gundlach,  65,  P.L., 
LXIX.,  37,  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  918.  Gregor.  M.,  Registrant,  8,  n.  4  (Maur.,  9,  n. 
11),  ed.  Hartmann  (A/on.  Germ,  hist.,  Epp.,t.2),  2,  p.  5  ;  P.L.,  LXXVIL,  951  ;  Jaffe- 
Ewald,  n.  1491,  on  granting  of  the  pallium  to  Syagrius,  Bishop  of  Autun  :  "  Et  serenis- 
simi  domni  iniperatoris,  quantum  nobis  aiaconus  noster,  qui  apud  cum  responsa  ecclesiae 
faciebat,  innotuit,  pro?ia  -voluntas  est  et  concedi  hoc  omnino  dcsiderat."  Cp.  Zeitschr.fiir 
hath.  Theol.,  14  (1890),  487-491     Anal.  ro?n.,  1,  377  ff. 


No.  550] 


EAST  AND  WEST 


357 


admonishes  them  concerning  the  duty,  which  to  them  is  an 
advantage,  of  maintaining  intact  the  "friendship  and  alliance" 
with  the  Empire.  The  imperial  theory  of  the  Later  Middle  Ages 
is  closely  connected  with  this  view  taken  by  the  Popes  of  the 
authority  of  the  Roman  Empire.1 

550.  The  state  of  the  Church  among  the  Franks  was  as  yet  as 
far  removed  from  what  it  was  when  Charles  the  Great  was  raised 
to  the  Roman  Empire  as  the  Greek  Emperors  were  far  from 
being  supreme  rulers  or  heads  of  a  confederation  of  all  nations  in 
East  and  West.  The  Franks,  as  we  have  seen,  acknowledged 
the  Roman  Primacy,  and  belonged  to  the  Church  Catholic,  yet 
we  cannot  help  noticing  that  the  ties  uniting  the  country  to  the 
Popes  were  now  less  intimate  than  when  Gaul  still  formed  an 
integral  part  of  the  Roman  Empire.  The  frequent  and  intimate 
intercourse  of  early  times  with  the  Apostolic  See  was  no  longer 
evident,  and  what  Popes  Siricius,  Innocent  I.,  Zosimus,  Leo, 
Hilary,  Anastasius  II.,  and  others  had  done  for  the  Gallican 
Church,  could  not  easily  be  repeated  under  the  Merovingians. 
In  this  we  can  perceive  the  disadvantage  due  to  the  breaking 
away  of  these  countries  from  the  Christian  Empire.  It  was  in 
consequence  of  this  separation,  that  the  disunion  of  the  sovereigns, 
their  selfish  aims,  and  a  certain  national  exclusiveness,  raised 
difficulties  against  even  the  most  kindly  meant  influences  coming 
from  abroad. 

Under  Gregory  the  Great  we  shall  find  intercourse  growing 
more  frequent  between  the  Franks  and  the  Holy  See,  but,  later, 
in  the  seventh  century,  our  authorities  mention  but  few  com- 
munications as  having  taken  place.  During  this  period  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  Primacy  was  shown  principally  by  attachment 
to  the  Church's  unity.  Any  one  acquainted  with  the  organisation 
of  the  Church  is,  however,  aware  that  the  Primacy  of  the  Popes 
need  not  be  incessantly  manifested  by  the  exercise  of  their 
authority,  for  the  very  fact  of  belonging  to  the  Catholic  Church 
involves,  in  all  who  do,  submission  to  the  visible,  Divinely 
appointed  Head  of  the  Church.  "  When  we  confess  one  only 
Church  of  God,"  writes  Pelagius  II.  to  the  Frankish  Bishop 

1  Pelagius  I.,  see  above,  p.  43,  note.  Vigilius  in  a  letter  to  Aurelian,  Archbishop 
of  Aries,  when  investing  him  with  the  Vicariate  :  it  is  necessary  above  all  "gratiae  in- 
tactae  foedera  custodirc."  Gundlach,  65;  P.L.,  LXIX.,  37,  39;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr., 
n.  918,  919. 


358  ROME  AND  THE  POPES  [N0.55. 


Aunacharius,  "  we  mean  that  we  are  all  established  upon  the 
one  rock  on  which  Christ  has  founded  the  Catholic  Faith."  1 

Review  of  the  Progress  made  by  the  See  of  Rome 

551.  The  historic  part  in  history  already  taken  by  the  Papacy 
warranted  the  assurance  that  the  Church  of  Rome  would  prove 
equal  to  all  future  tasks.  Unprecedented  difficulties,  both  from 
within  and  from  without,  had  been  overcome  by  the  marvellous 
power  of  the  Primacy.  Thanks  to  the  Popes,  the  Church  had 
brilliantly  demonstrated  that  she  could  stand  alone,  though  the 
Roman  Empire  upon  which  she  had  once  reckoned  for  support 
was  fast  sinking  into  ruin.  And  not  only  did  this  mighty  body 
preserve  its  footing,  but,  with  the  help  of  the  spirit  of  unity 
infused  into  it  from  Rome,  at  the  downfall  of  the  ancient  polity 
and  civilisation,  it  was  able  to  save  for  futurity  the  best  elements 
of  the  past. 

The  Roman  Empire  had  afforded  the  Church  a  protection, 
not  unaccompanied  by  risks. 

When,  in  the  time  of  Silvester  and  Constantine,  peace  was 
concluded  between  the  Roman  Bishop  and  the  Roman  State, 
the  Church  could  scarcely  have  foreseen  that  the  Empire  would 
assume,  as  in  point  of  fact  it  did,  the  right  of  wilfully  interfering 
in  Church  matters.  The  Christian  Emperors,  misguided  by  their 
worldly  authority,  repeatedly  made  heresy  the  law,  and  opposed 
their  own  will  and  even  their  weapons  to  the  authority  of  the 
Bishops  of  Rome. 

It  was  Arianism  which  put  the  Church's  unity  to  its  greatest 
test.  Against  this  heresy  laboured  Julius  I.  and  Damasus  with  a 
whole  array  of  chosen  Fathers,  to  whom  they  lent  their  weight, 
strenuously  defending  against  the  secular  power  the  true  Faith 
and  the  Church's  independence. 

The  struggle  against  Pelagianism  was  undertaken,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  by  Pope  Innocent,  and  after  him 
by  Pope  Celestine,  who,  both  of  them,  worked  hand  in  hand 
with  the  African  Bishops. 

If,  in  these  earlier  encounters,  the  reputation  of  the  Primacy 

1  Pelagius  II.  to  Aunacharius  :  "  Ncc  aliter  unam  solatnque  Dei  confilemur  eeelesiavi, 
nisi  omnes  adfietram,  super  quam  fundata  est  fides  caf/w/ica,  constmamur."  GUNDLACH, 
449  ;  P.L.,  LXXII.,  744;  Jaffe-Kaltenbr.,  n.  1057. 


No.  551] 


RETROSPECT 


359 


had  already  increased  owing  to  its  having  contributed  so  large  a 
part  to  the  saving  of  the  Church's  unity,  much  more  was  this  the 
case  during  the  war  waged  by  Celestine  and  Xystus  III.  against 
the  Nestorians  and  in  the  long-drawn  struggle  against  the 
Eutychians  and  the  heretical  government  in  which  took  part 
Pope  Leo  the  Great  and  his  successors,  Hilary,  Simplicius, 
Felix  III.,  Gelasius,  Symmachus,  and  Hormisdas. 

The  new  nations  were  then  already  pouring  into  Italy,  yet 
the  activity  of  the  Bishops  of  Rome  and  their  watchfulness  over 
the  whole  Church  never  ceased  amidst  the  surrounding  dangers 
and  distress.  The  Holy  See  even  grew  in  honour  during  those 
arduous  times,  for  it  was  seen  to  be  the  only  power  capable 
of  protecting  Rome  and  Italy.  Leo  I.  and  Gelasius,  in  both 
West  and  East,  displayed  an  authority  which  can  only  be 
compared  with  that  exercised  by  the  great  Popes  of  the 
Middle  Ages. 

The  Popes  cleared  away  the  luxuriant,  delusive  remains  of 
Roman  Paganism  ;  wisely  and  carefully  they  adapted  to  Christian 
use  all  that  was  good  in  classicism.  Leo  the  Great  and  his 
successors,  Hilary,  Gelasius,  and  Symmachus,  earned  undying 
honour  for  their  services  in  this  direction.  Barbarism  paralysed 
the  joyous  creations  of  ancient  Art,  but  the  Popes  provided  a 
resting-place  in  the  Basilicas  for  its  last  productions.  The  Schools 
had  reached  the  end  of  their  career,  but  the  Church  of  Rome, 
with  the  assistance  of  such  votaries  of  ancient  learning  as  Cassio- 
dorus,  at  least  made  a  fine  attempt  to  rescue  classical  studies 
from  total  neglect.  When  savagery  was  everywhere  rampant, 
the  Eternal  City  sent  St.  Benedict  into  the  neighbouring  moun- 
tains of  Subiaco,  where,  in  Western  monasticism,  he  created 
what  was  at  once  a  pillar  of  good  morals  and  piety,  and  the 
strongest  lever  for  the  civilisation  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

When  Odovacar's  rule  in  Rome,  and  that  of  Theodoric  the 
Ostrogoth  and  his  nation,  gave  rise  to  dissensions  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Roman  Church,  and  when,  in  Theodoric's  last  years,  he 
became  a  foe  of  Rome,  Symmachus  and  Hormisdas  handled 
the  difficulties  with  tact  and  firmness,  and  John  I.  laid  down 
his  life  for  the  peace  of  the  Church.  At  the  very  time  when 
the  Northern  Kings  established  their  government  in  such 
dangerous  proximity  to  the  Papal  See,  the  quarrelsome  East 
increased  the  peril  by  wrenching  itself  away  from  unity  through 


36° 


ROME  AND  THE  POPES 


[No.  551 


the  Acacian  schism.  With  what  emphasis  did  Simplicius  and 
Felix  III.  show  on  this  occasion  to  their  adversaries  beyond 
the  seas  the  place  allotted  by  God  to  the  powers  ecclesiastical 
and  secular !  The  Acacian  schism,  thanks  to  the  help  vouchsafed 
to  the  Popes  by  Providence,  was  eventually  healed,  and  the 
clearer  definition  of  the  rights  of  the  two  powers  was  not  the 
least  among  the  fruits  of  the  prolonged  trial. 

The  names  of  Silverius  and  Vigilius  remind  us  of  a  melancholy 
period  in  the  history  of  the  Roman  Church.  Pope  Vigilius, 
wavering  and  without  determination,  had  to  experience  sad 
humiliations  in  the  Greek  capital.  Pope  Pelagius  I.,  who 
succeeded  him,  had  both  a  ^clearer  mind  and  greater  courage, 
and  was  not  even  afraid  to  confess  and  defend  his  own  change 
of  view  in  the  matter  of  the  fifth  Council.  Pelagius  witnessed 
with  misgiving  the  beginning  of  the  interminable  Three-Chapter 
schism  ;  he  saw  the  increase  of  barbarism  among  the  Franks, 
due  to  Merovingian  misrule,  and  elsewhere  in  the  other  newly 
founded  States  similar  obstacles  placed  in  the  way  of  the  Church's 
free  action.  In  Rome,  however,  he  was  cheered  by  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Byzantine  Imperial  rule  after  the  victories  of  Narses, 
for  the  Roman  Empire,  even  under  an  Eastern  sovereign,  in 
spite  of  all  its  shortcomings,  was  still  the  best  pledge  of  order. 
Though  often  compelled  to  protest  against  interference  by  the 
Emperors  in  Church  affairs,  the  successors  of  Pelagius  I., 
John  III.,  Benedict  I.,  and  Pelagius  II.,  with  the  fidelity  to  be 
expected  of  Romans,  remained  true  to  the  Empire. 

A  darker  future  seemed  suddenly  to  yawn  before  Rome  on 
the  Lombard  invasion,  for  had  Rome  been  subjugated,  as  it 
seemed  imminent,  then  the  Holy  See  would  have  sunk  into  a 
state  of  abject  dependence  during  the  long  rule  of  the  Lombards. 
The  Pope  would  have  been  a  mere  creature  of  a  line  of  tyrannical 
Kings.  In  its  straits  He  who  guides  His  Church  protected  the 
See  of  Peter,  and  Rome's  towers  and  walls  withstood  the  fierce 
onslaught. 

Though,  during  the  Lombard  storms,  communication  between 
Rome  and  the  Eastern  Empire  became  increasingly  precarious, 
this  was  far  from  being  detrimental  to  the  City.  The  Papacy 
was  compelled  to  protect  and  save  Rome  without  the  aid  of 
the  Empire,  and  its  protection  was  felt,  not  in  the  City  alone, 
but  also  over  a  great  part  of  Italy.    In  this  wise  a  new  position 


No.  551] 


RETROSPECT 


361 


was  taken  by  the  Urbs  sEterna,  and  the  glory  of  her  See  was 
further  enhanced. 

The  man  appointed  to  lead  with  prudence  and  self-denial  the 
Roman  Church  to  her  new  point  of  vantage  was  Gregory  the 
Great,  the  same  Pope  who,  through  his  efforts  on  behalf  of 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  new  nations  when  the  ancient  world 
was  crumbling  to  pieces,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  new  world 
of  the  Middle  Ages. 


INDEX 


A 

Acilii,  gardens  and  buildings,  421 
Acts,  pseudo-apost.,  463 

 of  the  Martyrs,  470 

Adelphius,  City  prefect,  456 
Adrastus,  custodian,  417 
Adrian,  church  of  St.,  401 
Adrianople,  battle  of,  446 
yEscuIapius,  temple  of,  525 
Africa,  447,  543 
African  style,  481 

Agapetus,  Pope,  projects  schools,  378,  474 

Agathias,  historian,  381 

Ager  Veranus,  362,  525 

Agila,  Visigoth,  448 

Agilulf,  Lombard  king,  438,  208 

Agnellus  of  Asolo,  444 

 historian,  381  f. 

 Bishop  of  Ravenna,  490 

-■  ■  Trent,  444 

Agnes,  Basilica  of  St.,  362,  486  f. 
Agrippa,  414  f.,  418 
Albinus  Junior,  consul,  495 
Alboin,  Lombard  king,  434  f. ;  his  death, 
438 

Aldobrandini,  399 
Alethius,  517 
Alexamenos,  182 
Alexander  of  Byzantium,  475 

 VII.,  Pope,  417 

 Severus,  baths,  421 

Allodi,  Dom  L.,  366 
Almo,  428 

Alphabet,  use  of,  408,  218 
Altar,  404,  188,  189,  190,  521 

Amalric,  Visigoth,  448 

Ambrose,  on  virginity,  368  :  church  of  the 
Apostles,  402  ;  on  relics,  406  f.  ;  on 
silence  in  church,  532  ;  against  men- 
dicants, 517 

Ammianus  Marcellinus,  409 

Ammonius  Saccas,  Gospel  Harmony,  460 

Ampullae,  400 

Anastasia,  S.,  church,  397,  401 
Anastasius,  argentarius,  387 

 Bibliothecarius,  473.    See  Liber  pont. 

 father  of  John  III.,  389 

 martyr,  399 


Anastasius  II.,  Pope,  550 
Andarchius,  a  Frank,  456 
Andreas  de  Columpna,  church,  417 
Andrew,  St.,  Apostle,  reputed  founder  of 

see  of  Byzantium,  475 
Angelo,  S.,  in  Borgo,  409 
Anicius  Auchenius  Bassus,  410 
Anio,  bridge,  383,  489,  175 
Annia  Regilla,  mausoleum  of,  428 
Annona,  436 

Annunciation  in  legend,  463,  211 
Anthemius,  Emperor,  493 
Anthimus,  the  gastronomist,  485 
Anthony,  St.,  abbot,  364 
Antiquarius,  485,  498 
Antoninus  Pius,  column  of,  417 
Apocrisiaries,  542 
Apocrypha,  463  ff.,  478  f. 
Apollinaris  of  Hierapolis,  417 
Apostles,  churches  of,  at  Constantinople 
and  Milan,  402,  187  ;  at  Rome,  402  ff., 

505,  537 
Aqua  Virgo,  414  f.,  421 
Aquae  Salvias,  399 

Aquileia,  taken  by  Lombards,  435  ;  schism 

of,  439  ff. 
Arator  the  poet,  460 
Arcarius,  387,  425 
Arco  dei  Pantani,  41 1 

 di  Portogallo,  417 

Arcus  Claudii,  413 

 Faustini,  472 

 Novus,  414 

Argentarius,  387,  401 

Arianism,  bad  effect  on  Germans,  382,  448 

Arichis,  Lombard  duke,  435 

Aristotle,  contempt  for  toil,  499 

Ariulf,  Lombard  duke,  435 

Aries.    See  Vicars 

Artemisium  nemorense,  525 

Asiatic  style  of  speech,  481 

Ass  and  ox,  at  Nativity,  212,  213 

Athanagild,  Visigoth,  448 

Athanasius,  362,  364 

Attis,  416 

Augustine  of  Canterbury,  545 

  of  Hippo,  his  monasteries,  361  ;  on 

relics,  407  ;  on  separation  from  Rome, 
442  ;  on  Church's  language,  480  f. ;  on 


The  numerals  in  thick  type  refer  to  the  illustrations,  the  others  to  the  sections. 

363 


364 


INDEX 


military  service,  491 ;  on  fasts,  511  ; 

on  Agape,  517;  Ad  competentes,  527; 

(pseudo)  to  the  catechumens,  530 
Augustus,   Emperor,  his   dial,  &c,  418, 

194,  196,  197 
Aunacharius  of  Antissiodorum,  437,  471, 

496,  546 
Aurelian  of  Aries,  549 

 Emperor,  Temple  of  Sun,  419 

Ausonius,  poet,  456 
Authari,  Lombard  king,  438 
Auxanius  of  Aries,  547,  549 
Avignon  exile,  426 
Avitus  of  Vienne,  453,  496 


B 

Baduarius,  393 
Baian,  Avar  king,  446 
Balbina,  martyr,  429 
Bangor  (Banchor),  361 
Banns  of  ordination,  505 
Baptism,  512,  527  ff. 
Baptistery,  397 
Barbara,  Domna,  457 
Baronius,  385,  541 
Basil,  Rule  of  St.,  364 

 on  manual  labour,  499 

 a  wizard,  500 

Basilica  Julia,  402 

 Liberii.    See  Sta.  Maria  Maggiore 

 SS.  Salvatoris.    See  Lateran 

 Sessoriana.    See  S.  Croce 

 Ulpia,  409  f. 

Bassus,  468 
Bede,  St.,  365 
Beggars,  515,  517 

Belisarius,  helps  Vigilius,  374  ;  his  triumph, 
447 

Benedict  of  Nursia,  founder  of  Western 
monasticism,  365  ;  in  Subiaco,  366 ; 
in  Monte  Cassino,  367,  173,  174  ;  his 
Rule,  368,  370  ;  relations  with  Papacy, 
369  ;  his  language,  482  f. 

  I.,  Pope,  described  in  Liber  pont., 

391  ;  no  remains  of,  392  ;  his  pontifi- 
cate, 436 

  II.,  390 

 XIII.,  403 

 of  Soracte,  399 

Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  on  monasticism,  370  ; 
in  Tre  Fontane,  399 

Bishops,  their  consecration,  492,  506  ;  in 
Italy,  493  ff.  ;  outside  Italy,  496  ;  re- 
quisites for  consecration,  497  ;  their 
"birthday,"  507,  548 

Bobbio,  monastery,  452 

Bocca  della  Verita,  401 

Boethius,  infant  prodigy,  409 

 praetorian  prefect,  387 

 senator,  454,  460 

The  numerals  in  thick  type  refer  to  the 


Boissier,  G.,  491 
Boniface  of  Ferentum,  493 

 I.,  Pope,  466,  471 

 III.,  541 

 father  of  Benedict  I.,  391 

Bonitus,  abbot,  435 

Bonosa,  Sta.,  524 

Bonus  of  Ferentum,  377 

Borromini,  518 

Bosco  Sacro,  428 

Britain,  544.    See  England 

Brunhilda  of  Austrasia,  450,  458 

Butilin,  381 

Byzantium,  rule  in  Italy,  382  ff.,  394  ;  de- 
cay of  Empire,  445  f.  See  Constanti- 
nople 

C 

CECILIA,  church  of  St.,  425  ;  account  of 

her  martyrdom,  429 
Caesaria,  abbess,  454 
Caesarius  of  Aries,  364,  454,  496,  546 

 Oratory  of  "  St.,"  397,  401 

Caffarella,  428 

Callinicus,  exarch,  393 

Calliopas,  exarch,  393 

Callistus,  St.,  Pope,  510 

Calpurnius,  420 

Campagna,  381,  399 

Campus  Veranus,  525 

Canon  of  Scripture,  463,  478 

Canons,  Apostolic,  466  ;  collections  of,  466, 

469 

Cantharus,  402,  515,  517 

Capitol,  412 

Cara  Cognatio,  507 

Cardinals,  426 

Casa  della  Missione,  417 

Cassian,  361,  364  f.  ;  454 

Cassiodorus,  361,  454,  460,  465,  471,  479, 

483,  500 
Cassius  of  Narni,  408,  494  f. 
Castrum  praetorium,  431 
Catabulenses,  414 

Catacombs,  424    ff.,  200-202,  204,  205. 

See  Ccemeterium 
Catechumens,  527  ff. 
Catenae,  460 
Cathedra,  169 
Celestine  I.,  Pope,  378,  466 
Celibacy,  clerical,  501  ff. 
Cemeteries,  400,  425.    See  Ccemeterium 
Cento  Vergilianus,  456 
Cerbonius  of  Populonia,  493 
Cestius,  pyramid  of,  419 
Cethegus,  patrician,  371,  457 
Chant,  532  ff. 

Charibert,  King  of  Paris,  449,  458 
Chariot,  state,  179 
Charity,  Christian,  517 
Chartularii,  394 

illustrations,  the  others  to  the  sections. 


INDEX 


365 


Childebert  I.,  Frankish  king,  379  f.,  546  f., 

549 
  II.,  547 

Chilperic  I.,  Frankish  king,  449,  458 
Chlamys,  398,  407,  424 
Chlodovec  I.,  king  of  the  Franks,  449,  524 
Chlotar  I.,  king  of  the  Franks,  449 
Christ,  monogram  of,  184  ;  in  art,  398,  488, 

519,  178, 185,  212,  213,  222 
Christmas  Day,  origin  of,  508  ;  Mass,  397 
Chrysogonus,  church  of  St.,  425 
Chrysostom,  on  beggars,  517 
Church,  its  good  influence,  445,  453,  488, 

491,  499  ;  and  State,  384  f.,  390,  540  ; 

History,  465 
Cicero,  contempt  for  toil,  499 
Circus  Maximus,  419 
Claudian,  poet,  410 
Claudius,  Emperor,  414,  418 
  II.,  424 

Clement,  church  of  St.,  489,  498,  500 

 VIII.,  Pope,  521 

 XL,  403 

Cleph,  435,  438 

Clergy,  497  ff.,  500  ff.,  504 

Clivus  argentarius,  412 

 victorias,  397  f.,  183 

Ccemeterium  of  St.  Callistus,  426  f.,  430,  202 

  ad  catacumbas  ;  of  Hippolytus  ;  of 

Cyriaca,  362 

 of  Pranextatus,  428,  434,  204 

■  St.  Thecla,  399 

 Tiburtius  and  Valerian,  428 

 St.  Valentine,  422,  424 

■        Zeno,  399 

Coliseum,  431 

Collectio,  feast  of  the,  507 

Colman,  545 

Colobium,  381, 182 

Colonnacce,  le,  41 1 

Columban,  St.  364,  452,  476,  545 

Communion,  527,  536 

Confirmation,  535 

Consecration  of  churches,  405 

Consistories,  378 

Constans  II.  {i.e.  Constantine  IV.),  394 
Constantina,  daughter  of  Tiberius,  446 
Constantine,  abbot,  369,  435 

  the  Great,  Emperor,  398,  475  ;  his 

baptism,  467 

 Pogonatus,  390 

 Pope,  474 

Constantinople,  475,  485,  541 
Constantius,  Emperor,  409 

 of  Milan,  441 

Constitutions,  Apost,  466 
Constitutum,  375 
Continence,  501  ff. 
Cornelius,  Pope,  427,  202 
Cosimato,  S.,  in  Trastevere,  431 
Costanza,  Sta.,  519 
Council  of  Agatha,  546 


Council  of  Arausio,  546 

 Aurelianum,  546 

  Bracara,  544 

 Braunacum,  458 

 Cabillonum,  548 

 Chalcedon,  374 

 Constantinople,  375  ff.,  466 

 Elvira,  502 

 Gradus,  443 

 Lateran,  466 

 Lenia,  545 

  Lyons,  548 

 Murano,  443 

 Nicaea  1st,  468  ;  2nd,  497 

 ■  Rome,  502 

 Sinuessa,  467 

 Toledo,  497 

 Tours,  546 

 Trullan,  466,  503 

Cowl,  174 

Creeds,  528 

Crib,  464,  212,  213 

Croce,  Sta.,  in  Gerusalemme,  524 

Cross  in  art,  217,  218,  221 

Crucifix,  mock,  182,  396 

Crux  decussata,  408 

Cursus  planus,  &c,  481 

Cybele,  416 

Cyprian  of  Carthage,  St.,  379,  481,  543; 
spurious  passages  from,  442 


D 

Dacians,  421, 199 
Dacius  of  Milan,  372,  374 
Damasus,  Pope,  418,  429,  467,  473 
Dante,  456 

Dead,  care  for,  409,  424,  430 

Decebalus,  410 

Decius,  exarch,  393,  437 

Decretals,  466,  468 

Dedication  of  churches,  405  ff. 

Defensores  of  the  Apostolic  See,  384,  386 

Demetrias,  a  virgin,  364 

Deus  Rediculus,  temple,  428,  203 

Diaconia,  397 

Diburium,  414 

Dio  Cassius,  417 

Diocletian,  Emperor,  414,  482 

Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  460,  466 

 Exiguus,  460,  466 

Diptychs,  375,  379,  392,  178 
Diribitorium,  414 
Domitian,  Stadium  of,  398,  421 
Domitii,  mausoleum  of,  420 
Dorotheus,  475 

Dress,  362,  169, 170, 174,  427,  201,  208,  223 
Droctulf,  Lombard  duke,  438 
Duchesne,  L.,  466,  471,  474  f.,  and  passim 
Dulcitius,  387 
Duruy,  V.,  500 


The  numerals  in  thick  type  refer  to  the  illustrations,  the  others  to  the  sections. 


366 


INDEX 


E 

Easter  celebrations,  398,  531  fif. 

Einsiedeln  Guide,  413,  420 

Eleutherius  of  Antissiodorum,  496 

— —  exarch,  393 

Elias  of  Aquileia,  439  ff. 

Ember  Days,  original  purpose  of,  509  f., 

secondary  end,  504 
England,  451  ff.,  545 
Ennodius  of  Pavia,  454,  457,  470,  493 
Epiphanius  of  Pavia,  470,  493 

 of  Salamis,  503 

Episcopium,  397 

Epitaphs,  362,  424,  431  f.,  486,  206,  207 
Equitius  the  monk,  364,  498,  500 

 father  of  Maurus,  366 

Eucharist,  501,  529 
Eudocia  and  Eudoxia,  524 
Eugenius  III.,  Pope,  399 

 notary,  409,  486 

Eugippius,  abbot,  476 
Eulogies,  400 

Euphemia,  Basilica  of  St.,  374 
Euphonius  of  Tours,  496 
Euplus,  Oratory  of  St.,  400 
Eusebius,  historian,  465,  467 

 of  Nicomedia,  467 

 church  of  St.,  430 

 of  St.  Paul's,  400,  486 

Eutychius,  St.,  martyr,  434,  439 
Evagrius,  389 

Evangelists,  explanation  of  their  symbols, 
528 

Exarchate  of  Ravenna,  393  f.,  435  f. 
Exorcisms,  527  ff. 


F 

Fabiola,  516 

Facundus  of  Hermiane,  372 
Faroald,  Lombard  duke,  435 
Fasti,  471 
Fasts,  510  ff. 

Fausta,  wife  of  Cassius,  495,  503 
Faustina,  417 
Favissae,  525 

Felicissimus  and  Agapetus,  SS.,  429  ;  tomb, 
205 

Felix,  antipope,  467 

  Flavius  Constantius,  519 

  Martyr,  467 

 St.,  of  Namnetes,  496 

 I.,  Pope,  472 

 III.,  390 

 IV.,  401,  475 

Fenestella,  404 

Ferise  messis,  &c,  509 

Ferrandus  of  Carthage,  372,  543 

Fibula,  398,  424 

Flavii,  palace  of  the,  181 


Flavius,  as  a  title,  438 
 Eugenius,  410 

Florentius,  presbyter,  and  grandson,  366, 

369 

Font,  534  f.,  228 
Forgeries,  466  ff. 

Fortunatus,  St.,  of  Tudertum,  493 
 See  Venantius 

Forum  of  Augustus,  of  Julius,  of  Nerva  or 
Transitorium,  411,  194 

  Boarium,  401 

 Trajani,  409,  192,  193 

Franks,  380  f.,  437,  449  f.,  459,  546  ff. 

Fredegarius,  on  end  of  world,  453 

Fredegunda,  449  f. 

Fronto  of  Milan,  441 

Fulgentius  Ferrandus,  372,  506,  543 

 Fabius  Planciades,  456 

 of  Ocricolum,  493  f. 

 Ruspe,  362,  543 

Fuscina,  sister  of  Avitus,  461 


G 

Gaianum,  416 
Galla,  St.,  362. 
Garrucci,  395 

Gaul,  anarchy  under  Merovingians,  449, 
548  ff.  ;  centre  of  culture,  455 

Gelasian  decree,  463,  470,  477  f. 

Gelasius  I.,  Pope,  his  list  of  the  Patri- 
monies, 387 ;  influence  on  Church- 
Latin,  481 ;  fixes  months  for  ordina- 
tion, 504 

Gelimer,  Vandal  king,  447 

Genseric,  Vandal  king,  411 

Gentes,  nationes,  539  f.,  549 

George  in  Velabro,  St.,  401 

German  types,  198,  199 

Germanus  of  Paris,  496 

Giacomo  in  Augusta,  S.,  418 

Gifts,  baptismal,  537 

Gildas,  451 

Giovanni  della  Malva,  S.,  431 

Goths,  why  vanquished,  382  ;  and  Vandals, 

480  ;  cruelty,  493 
Goswintha,  448 
Gracchus,  City  prefect,  416 
Grado,  patriarchal  see,  435,  439  ff. 
Gratian,  canonist,  466 

Greek  settlements  in  Rome,  399  ff.  ;  lan- 
guage used  in  liturgy,  528  ;  influence 
on  Church-Latin,  482 

Gregorovius,  368 

Gregory  of  Antioch,  541 

 Lingones,  496 

 Nazianzus,  499 

  I.,  Pope,  as  apocrisiary,  437  ;  on  St. 

Equitius,  364;  on  Maurus,  366;  on 
Monte  Cassino,  367  ;  attitude  to  Rule 
of  St.  Benedict,  369 ;  on  Smaragdus 


The  numerals  in  thick  type  refer  to  the  illustrations,  the  others  to  the  sections. 


INDEX 


367 


the  exarch,  394 ;  on  St.  Paul's  place 
of  death,  399  ;  on  St.  Menas,  400  ;  his 
mother,  401  ;  on  Trajan's  Forum,  410  ; 
in  the  cemeteries,  425;  on  the  Lom- 
bards, 434,  436  ;  on  Three  Chapters, 
442  f. ;  a  contemporary  of  Mohammed, 
447  ;  on  end  of  world,  453  ;  his  dia- 
logues, 460 ;  on  Aries,  465 ;  on  the 
martyrs,  470  f. ;  on  papal  ordinations, 
475  ;  as  a  writer,  484  ;  on  St.  Cassius, 
495  ;  on  Holy  Writ,  498  ;  on  celibacy, 
501,  503  ;  on  fasts,  5 10  ff.  ;  on  numbers, 
513  ;  on  altars,  521  ;  burial-place,  522  ; 
on  baptismal  robe,  534  ;  on  John  the 
Faster,  541  ;  influence  in  Gaul,  547  ; 
regard  for  Constantinople,  549 

Gregory  II.,  514 

 VII.,  365,  502 

 of  Tours,  448  f.,  454,  456,  465,  476  f., 

484,  496,  548  ff. 
Guntram,  Burgundian  king,  437,  448  f.,  548 
Gurdimer,  a  comes,  387 
Gyrovagi,  363 


H 

Hadrian,  Emperor,  mausoleum,  418,  421 

 I.,  Pope,  403,  414 

Halo.    See  Nimbus 
Heraclida,  523,  224 
Herculanus  of  Perusium,  493 
Hercules,  397 

Hermenegild,   St.,  Visigothic  pretender, 
448 

Herod  Atticus,  428 

Hilary  I.,  Pope,  390,  535,  550;  monastic 

foundations,  362 
Himerius  of  Tarragona,  363,  502 
Honoratus,  abbot,  369 
—  of  Milan,  435 
 notary,  437 

Honorius  I.,  Pope,  399,  423  f.,  486  f.,  544 
Hormisdas,  Pope,  on  the  decretals,  466  ; 

connection  with  papal  lists,  475  ;  with 

Gelasian  decree,  478 
Hiilsen,  Chr.,  419 
Hypatius  of  Ephesus,  466 


I 

Iconoclast  controversy,  403 
Ingunda,  448 

Innocent  I.,  Pope,  550;  his  monastic  con- 
stitution, 364 

 III.,  456 

 X.,  518 

Ireland,  545 

Irene,  sister  of  Damasus,  362 
Isacius,  exarch,  393 

The  numerals  in  thick  type  refer  to  the 


Isaias,  509 

Iseum  et  Serapeum,  414 
Isidore,  544 
Istria,  435,  439 
Itala,  480 

J 

James  the  Less,  relics,  404 
Januarius,  M.,  429 

Jerome,  on  monasticism,  361  ;  his  writings, 
461  ;  on  apocrypha,  464  ;  historical 
works,  465  ;  on  Constantine's  baptism, 
467;  martyrology,  471;  on  celibacy, 
502  f.  ;  on  Fabiola,  516 

Jews,  364,  449 

John,  archpriest,  367 

 exarch,  393 

  IV.,  Faster,  392 

 the  Deacon  (two  of  same  name),  401, 

410,  437,  506,  515,  520,  521,  527  ff. 

 II.,  Pope,  monogram,  489;  on  the 

decretals,  466  ;  mentioned,  378,  541 

  III.,  his  election,  389  ;  loss  of  his 

decrees,  392  ;  spurious  bull,  402  ;  con- 
secrates SS.  Philip  and  James,  403  ff.  ; 
care  for  cemeteries,  425  ff.  ;  takes 
refuge  in  one,  428 ;  relations  with 
Lombards,  391,  434  f. ;  on  end  of 
world,  454  ;  influence  on  Liturgy,  513  ; 
dealings  with  the  Franks,  548 

 VII.,  397,  464 

 and  Paul,  Basilica  of  SS.,  490 

 of  Perusium,  377 

 ■  Ravenna,  443 

 (various),  460 

Jordan  in  art,  519 

Joseph,  St.,  in  art  and  legend,  463  f. 

Judicatum,  373 

Julian  of  Cingoli,  386 

 exarch,  393 

Julius  Cassar,  414 

 I.,  Pope,  402,  414,  423 

 -  II.,  403 

Junius  Bassus,  529 

Junius  Rusticus,  385 

Juno,  Temple  of,  525 

Justin  I.,  Emperor,  446 

 ■  II.,  392,  436,  446,  458 

Justinian,  Emperor,  conception  of  Church, 
384,  541  ;  on  Three  Chapters,  371  ff.  ; 
relations  with  Italy,  382  ff. ;  with  Con- 
stantinople, 402  ;  seeks  relics,  407  ; 
on  celibacy,  503;  his  character,  392, 
446,  523  ;  portrait,  178,  223 

Juvenal  of  Narni,  494  f. 


K 

Keys,  379 

illustrations,  the  others  to  the  sections. 


368 


INDEX 


L 


Lamiani,  Horti,  430 
Lamps,  398,  184,  185 
Lanciani,  R.,  419 
Langen,  J.,  442,  547 

Lateran,  altar,  521 ;  apse,  519  f.,  221,  222 ; 
atrium,  515  f.,  521  ;  interior,  518,  220; 
spurious  relics,  520  f. ;  monastery,  435  ; 
oratories,  535,  227  >  plan,  219  ;  stations, 
514;  baptistery,  533, 226, 227;  Museum, 
524 

Latin,  vulgar,  &c,  477,  480  ff. 

Lawrence,  basilica  of  St.,  on  the  Via  Tibur- 

tina,  362,  426,  488,  513,  521,  537,  215, 

216,  217 

 in  Damaso,  418 

 Lucina,  413,  418,  422,  424 

 I.,  of  Milan,  493 

 II.,  441 

Leander  of  Hispalis,  496,  544 
Legends,  470,  476 
Legio  Fulminata,  417,  195 
Lent,  51 1  f. 

Leo,  of  Monte  Cassino,  367 

  I.,    Pope,    care    for  monasteries, 

363 ;  on  celibacy,  501  f.  ;  on  the 
Collectio,  507 ;  on  the  Ember  Days, 
509  f. 

 II.,  401 

 XIII.,  518  f. 

 of  Senones,  496,  546 

Lerins,  Lerinum,  361 

Leutharis,  381 

Leuvigild,  Visigoth,  448 

Liber  pontificalis,  362,  364,  371,  374,  381, 

389,  391,  399,  414,  434,  467,  472  ff., 

484,504,510,521 
Liberatus  of  Carthage,  543 
Liberius,  forged  Gesta  of,  467 
Libertinus,  monk,  500 
Libraries,  396,  409 
Litany,  408,  536 

Liturgy,  362,  169,  405  ff,  506  ff,  531  ff, 

54°,  .544 
Liuva,  Visigoth,  44S 

Lombards,  invasion  of  Italy,  393,  434  ff.  ; 
character  and  religion,  438  ;  their  con- 
quests, 439  ff.  ;  portrayed,  208 

Longinianus,  City  prefect,  397 

Longinus,  prefect  of  Italy,  435 

Lothaire.    See  Chlotar 

Lucina,  414 

Lucullus,  476 

Ludi  Apollinares,  507 

Lupercal,  395 

Lupus,  a  Frank,  458 

 of  Lugdunum,  496 

Lustration.    See  Cantharus 

Luxovium  (Luxeuil)  monastery,  452, 
476 

The  numerals  in  thick  type  refer  to  the 


M 

Mabillon,  370 
Maecenas,  garden  of,  430 
Magister  militum,  394 
Maglorius  of  Dola,  496 
Mallius,  Peter,  426 
Marcellinus  of  Ancona,  493 

 Pope,  forged  Gesta,  467 

Marcellus,  Pope,  414 

 St.,  church  and  legend,  413  f. 

Marcus  Aurelius,  Emperor,  column,  &c, 

417,  195 
Mareas,  presbyter,  377 
Maria,  S.,  Antiqua,  397 

 in  Ara  Cceli,  401 

 in  Cosmedin,  401 

  Liberatrice,  397 

 in  Via  Lata,  414 

 di  Loreto,  193 

  Maggiore,  station  at,   505  ;  second 

cathedral  of  Rome,  403  ;  obelisk,  418  ; 
services,  426;  triumphal  arch,  463; 
apse,  519  ;  paschal  service,  537 

 de'  Miracoli,  419 

 sopra  Minerva,  414 

 di  Monte  Santo,  419 

 S.  Nome  di,  193 

 della  Pace,  456 

 in  Pallara,  397 

 del  Popolo,  420 ;  meaning  of  name, 

423 

 in  Trastevere,  377,  385,  425 

Marinus  II.,  Pope,  423 
Mark,  feast  of  St.,  422 
Martin  of  Bracara,  361,  496 

 Tours,  364,  367,  46  r,  477 

Martino  ai  Monti,  San,  216,  518 
Martyrologies,  470  ff. 
Marucchi,  O.,  423 

Mauritius,  Emperor,  392,  437,  446,  524 
Maurus,  abbot,  366,  370 

 of  Prasneste,  387 

Mausoleums,  196,  203 
Mavortius  the  poet,  456 
Maximian  of  Ravenna,  464,  523 

 the  Tuscian,  461 

Maximus,  Propositus,  424 
Medardus,  St.,  496 
Medicus,  St.,  494 
Meliorantius,  418 
Menas,  M.,  400,  186 

 patriarch,  372,  407 

 solitary,  438 

Merobaudes,  410 
Meta,  419 

Metrophanes  of  Byzantium,  475 
Mica  Aurea,  431 

Milan,  capture  by  Lombards,  435 

 Schism,  441 

Minerva  Chalcidica,  414 
 Medica,  525 

illustrations,  the  others  to  the  sections. 


INDEX 


369 


Mithra,  grotto,  416  ;  initiation,  526  ;  in- 
fluence on  Church,  508 
Mohammed,  447 
Monasteries,  361  ff.,  498  f. 
Monica,  St.,  517 
Monogram,  383,  398 
Monte  Cassino,  366  f.,  172,  435 

 Citorio,  417 

 Mario,  422 

Monti  Parioli,  422 
Moralities,  461  f. 
Morin,  G.,  507 
Mosaics,  210,  221,  222,  223 
Miintz,  E.,  519 

N 

Narni,  494  f. 

Narses,  advises  Pelagius,  378  ;  vanquishes 
Leutharis  and  Butelin,  381  ;  care  for 
the  City,  383;  proposes  to  alienate 
Patrimonies,  387  ;  on  the  Palatine, 
395  ;  founds  a  monastery,  399  ;  erects 
church  of  the  Apostles,  402  ;  his  alleged 
treachery,  434  ;  his  bridge,  175  ;  his 
portrait  (?),  178  ;  relations  with  John 
III.,  428  ;  his  death,  393 

Narthex,  527 

Nazaro  Grande,  church  of  S.,  402,  187 
Neptune,  basilica  of,  415 
Nero,  his  villa,  366  ;  his  ghost,  420  ;  baths, 
421 

Niceta  of  Remesiana,  496 
Nicetius  the  Frank,  496,  548 
Nicholas  IV.,  Pope,  519,  521 
Nilus,  St.,  of  Calabria,  399 
Nonius  Victor  Olympius,  416 
Nuns.    See  Virgins 

O 

OCRICOI.UM,  489,  493  f. 
Olympius,  exarch,  393 
Optatus  of  Mileve,  543,  201 
Ordinations,  380,  504  ff.,  547 
Ordo  Romanus  VII.,  527 

 VIII.,  505 

Ostiarii,  515,  517 
Ovid,  509 

P 

Padusia,  519 
Psedagogium,  396 

Paganism  and  Christianity,  417, 422,  507  ff., 
525  f. 

Palatine  crucifix,  396,  182 
Palazzo  dei  Conservatori,  417  &c. 

  Doria,  414 

 di  Monte  Citorio,  418 

 Ottoboni-Fiano,  418 

  Sciarra,  414 

The  numerals  in  thick  type  refer  to  th 
VOL.  III. 


Palazzo  di  Venezia,  412,  414 
Palladio,  Andrea,  419 
Palladius,  364 

Pallium,  427,  549,  191,  201,  223 
Pammachius,  517 
Pamphronius,  patrician,  436 
Pancras  of  Narni,  495 

 basilica  of  St.,  378,  425,  537 

"  Pange  lingua  gloriosi,"  458 
Pantheon,  421 
Panvinius,  518  f.,  521 
Pariturium,  419 
Parker,  J.  H.,  520 
Parthenius,  457 
Paschal  II.,  Pope,  420 
Passeggiata  Flaminia,  423 
Patricius,  394 
Patrick,  St.,  545 

Patrimony  of  the  Popes,  381,  387,  517 
I  Patroclus  of  Aries,  465 
Paul,  basilica  of  St.,  its  surroundings,  399  f.  ; 

services,  426  ;  station,  513 
Paul  the  Apostle,  place  of  execution,  399  ; 

supposed  prison,  414  ;  on  Virgil,  456 

 the  Deacon,  410,  434,  438 

 I.,  Pope,  416 

Paula,  517 
Paulina,  517 

Paulinus  of  Aquileia,  435 

 of  Nola,  362,  416,  461,  496,  517 

Pelagius  I.,  Pope,  as  deacon  opposes 
Vigilius,  373  ;  in  Three  Chapters, 
377  ff. ;  his  labours,  386  f.  ;  buildings, 
403 ;  writings,  460 ;  on  education  of 
clergy,  497  ;  on  clerical  misbehaviour, 
500  ;  relations  with  Constantinople, 
541;  with  Gaul,  547,  549;  to  an 
apocrisiary,  542 

 II.,  election,  390,  436  ;  protest  against 

John  the  Piaster,  392,  541  ;  seeks  help 
in  the  North  and  East,  437  ;  dealings 
with  Aquileia,  439 ;  restores  S.  Lorenzo, 
488 ;  on  celibacy,  501  ;  his  votive 
offering,  524  ;  against  Abp.  of  Larissa, 
542  ;  relations  with  Gaul,  550;  death. 
391 

Penitents,  515  f. 
Pergula,  523  f. 
Peter  of  Aleria,  534 

 the  Apostle,  his  chair,  507 

 basilica  of  St.,  liturgy,  &c,  422,  426, 

505  f,  513,  537 

 ad  vincula,  524 

Petronius  Maximus,  410 

Philip  and  James,  church  of  SS.,  400,  402  ff. ; 

the  feast  and  Mass,  405 
Philocalian  Calendar,  508 
Phocas,  Emperor,  397,  446,  34  1 
Piazza  Colonna,  417 

 Navona,  42  1 

 Otto  Cantoni,  418 

 della  Pietra,  415 

:  illustrations,  the  others  to  the  sections. 

2  A 


37° 


INDEX 


Piazzo  del  Popolo,  419 
Pigna,  417 
Pincius,  42 1 
Pittacium,  404 
Pius  IV.,  Pope,  518 
 VI.,  494 

  IX.,  398  ;  his  burial-place,  488 

Placidia,  Empress,  524 
Placidus,  monk,  366 

 patrician,  381 

Planeta,  408,  427 

Plato,  father  of  John  VI L,  397 

Platon,  exarch,  393 

Pliny,  on  the  Empire,  539 

Poblicius  Bibulus,  412 

Polychronius,  468 

Pontian,  African  Bp.,  372 

 Pope,  472 

Ponticello,  399 
Ponte  Felice,  494 

Popes,  origin  and  use  of  name,  424,  477  ; 
letters,  392  ;  concern  for  monasticism, 
369;  lists  of,  473  ft,  214;  intervene 
in  dogma  and  discipline,  371-380, 
439-444,  497-500,  541-550;  relations 
with  Gaul,  379,  546  ff. ;  with  the  East, 
371  ff.,  541:  with  North  Africa,  543; 
use  of  spurious  documents,  442,  462, 
465;  appeals  to,  548;  imperial  assent 
to  papal  elections,  389,  490  ;  consecra- 
tion of,  506 

Porta  "  Aurelia,"  425 

 Flaminia,  420 

 Ostiensis,  401 

■  del  Popolo,  413,  420 

 S.  Valentini,  423 

Porticoes,  414  f. 

Poseidonion,  41  5 

Praefectus  prastorio,  394 

 urbi,  394,  179 

■  vehiculorum,  424 

Praetextatus  of  Cavellio,  547 

  Rheims,  496 

Prastor,  394 

Praepositura,  424 

Pragmatic  Sanction,  376,  383  ff. 

Prassede,  church  of  Sta.,  423 

Presents,  baptismal,  537 

Pretorians,  431 

Primacy  in  the  6th  century,  541-550.  Sec 
Popes 

Priscian  the  Grammarian,  485 
Priscilhanism,  544 
Proba  Anicia,  362 

 poetess,  456 

Probus  of  Reate,  493 
Processions,  422 
Procopius,  371,  381,  420,  447 
Profuturus  of  Bracara,  544 
Prosper  of  Aquitania,  540 
Prudentius,  416,  448,  461,  531 
Puticuli,  430 


Q 

Quadragesimus,  sub-deacon,  499 
Quinisextum  cone,  466 
Quintus  Sulpicius  Maximus,  409 
Quirinal,  419,  421 
Quirinus,  M.,  429 
Quodvultdeus,  abbot,  439 


R 

Races,  Racehorses,  420 
Radegunda,  458 
Raffaele,  456 

Ravenna,  seat  of  government,  394  ;  abode 

of  art,  455 
Reccared,  Visigoth,  448 
Recognitions,  463 

Redemptus  of  Ferentum,  434,  439,  493 
Regicide,  438,  448 

Relics,  404  f.  ;  their  deposition,  406  ff.  ; 

Old  Testament,  520 
Remigius,  St.,  496 
Rhythm  in  prose,  481 
Ricimer,  493 
Robigalia,  422 

Romance  languages,  their  rise,  480  ff. 
Romanus,  exarch,  393,  443 
Rosamund,  438 

Rossi,  G.  B.  de,  377,  393,  398,  404,  471, 
and  passim 

Rotunda.    Sec  Trullus 

Rufinus  of  Aquileia,  zeal  for  monasticism, 
361,  364  ;  writings,  461  ;  Church  his- 
tory, 465 

 pretorian  prefect,  407 

Rusticus  of  Narbonne,  363 

 nephew  of  Vigilius,  373 


S 

Saba,  abbot,  401 

 church  of  St.,  401 

Saepta  Julia,  414,  421 

Sagittarius  of  Vapingum,  548 

Salic  Law,  459 

Salunius  of  Ebredunum,  548 

Sapaudus  of  Aries,  379  ff.,  547 

Sarabaitas,  363 

Sarcophagi,  209,  211 

Sarpatus,  apocrisiary,  542 

Scala  Santa,  521 

Schola  Grasca,  401 

Sclomon,  exarch,  394 

Scrutinies,  403,  527  ff. 

Sebastian,  place  of  martyrdom,  397 

 basilica  of  St.,  362,  397,  428,  495 

 a  Bp.,  437 

 deacon,  373 

Secretarium,  522 


The  numerals  in  thick  type  refer  to  the  illustrations,  the  others  to  the  sections. 


INDEX 


371 


Sedulius,  498 

Senate,  381,  410 

Septimius  Severus,  arch  of,  401 

Sergius  and  Bacchus,  SS.,  church  of,  401 

Sergius  I.,  Pope,  399 

  II.,  521 

Series  episcoporum,  475 
Servulus,  mendicant,  498 
Severinus  of  Noricum,  476 

 Pope,  524 

Severus  of  Aquileia,  443 

 priests,  499,  524 

Sexes,  separation  of,  527,  534 
Sibyls,  456 

Sidonius  Apollinaris,  451 
Siegbert  or  Sigibert  of  Austrasia,  449,  456, 
458 

Silverius,  Pope,  474 

Silvester,  Pope,  his  legend,  467  ;  Constitu- 
tum,  468  ;  throne,  519 

 and  Martin,  SS.,  basilica,  518,  523,  216 

Silvestro  in  Capite,  S.,  416,  418  f. 
Silvia,  mother  of  Gregory  I.,  401 
Simony,  468 

Simplicius,  abbot,  369,  435,  483 
  Pope,  426 

Siricius,  Pope,  363,  466,  475,  502,  550 
Sixtus  IV.,  Pope,  420 

 V.,  417,  419 

 See  Xystus 

Smaragdus,  exarch,  393,  438,  443 
Socrates,  historian,  465,  499 
Sophia,  Empress,  434,  436,  446 
Sozomen,  historian,  465,  499 
Spain,  448,  544 
Spoletium,  435,  494 
Spoon  from  Aquileia,  537,  228 
Stations,  378,  397,  400,  422,  430,  505,  509, 
515  f. 

Stefano,  S.,  del  Cacco,  414 
Stephania,  Roman  lady,  457 
Subiaco,  366, 171 

Sulpicius  Severus,  on  monks,  361,  364  ; 

his  Latinity,  461  ;  his  chronicle,  465 
Symmachian  forgeries,  467  ff. 
Symmachus,  Pope,  390,  487 
Synod.    See  Council 


T 

Taurobouum,  416 
Terasia,  wife  of  Paulinus,  362 
Tertullian,  416  f.,  471,  480  f.,  511 
Tertullus,  patrician,  366 
Theodelinde,  Lombard  queen,  438 
Theodora,  Empress,  379,  446,  523 
Theodore  Ascidas,  372,  374 

 ex-consul,  362 

 physician,  498 

 Pope,  40c,  423 

■  of  Ravenna,  sarcophagus,  209 


Theodore,  church  of  St.,  183,  397 

Theodoret,  historian,  465,  525 

Theodoric  the  Goth,  431,  493 

Theodosius  the  Younger,  524 

Theudegesil,  Visigoth,  448 

Theudes,  Visigoth,  448 

Three  Chapters  controversy  ;  attitude  of 
Vigilius,  371  ff . ;  its  end,  375  f.  ;  results, 
377  ff. ;  outcome  at  Aquileia,  439  ff. 

Thundering  Legion,  417,  195 

Tiber  Isle,  525 

Tiberius,  Emperor,  392,  436,  446 
Timothy  of  Antioch,  400 
Tonsure,  427,  201,  545 

Tone  delle  Milizie,  or,  di  Nerone,  397,  183 

Totila  the  Ostrogoth,  373,  495 

Traditio  symboli,  &c,  528 

Trajan's  Forum,  409  f.,  192,  193  ;  legend, 

410  ;  column,  409  f. 
Translation  of  relics,  191 
Tre  Fontane,  399 
Treves  ivory,  407,  191 
Trophimus  of  Aries,  465 
Trullanum  cone,  466,  503 
Trullus,  397,  183 


U 

Urbano,  S.,  church  of,  the  Via  Alessan- 
drina,  409 

 Via  Appia,  428 

Urseius,  abbot,  361 
Ustrinum  Antoninorum,  417 
Usuard,  471 

V 

Valentine,  basilica,  cemetery,  legend  of 
St.,  423  f,  200 

 notary,  387 

Valentinian,  abbot,  369,  435 

  III.,  Emperor,  524 

Valla,  Lorenzo,  480 
Vandals,  447 

Venantius  Fortunatus,  407,  409,  458,  496 
Vesta,  362 

"  Vexilla  Regis,"  458 

Via  Alessandrina,  409,  41 1 

 Aurelia  Nova,  425 

 Bonella,  41 1 

 del  Caravita,  413  f. 

 Claudia,  422 

 del  Corso,  413 

 della  Croce  Bianca,  41 1 

 Flaminia,  412  ff.,  494  ff. 

 Frattina,  419 

 della  Greca,  401 

 Lata,  414 

  Laurentina,  399 

 Leopardi,  430 


The  numerals  in  thick  type  refer  to  the  illustrations,  the  others  to  the  sections. 


372 


INDEX 


Via  Magnanapoli,  410 

 di  S.  Marco,  412 

  Merulana,  430,  525 

 del  Collegio  Nazareno,  414 

 Ostia,  399 

■  Portuensis,  387,  467 

 Salaria,  376,  383 

 Testa  Spaccata,  410 

 delle  Vergini,  414 

— —  della  Vite,  413.  4H,  419 
Vicars,  Papal,  in  Aries,  547,  549 

 of  Rome,  &c,  394 

Vicenzo  ed  Anastasio,  SS.,  399 
Vicovaro,  366 
Victor  of  Capua,  460 

 of  Tricastra,  548 

Victorinus,  rhetor,  410 
Vicus  Alexandri,  399 
Vi^ilantius,  502 
Vigiles,  402,  414 

Vigilius,  Pope,  at  court,  371  ;  Three  Chap- 
ters, 372  f.  ;  his  flight,  374  ;  gives  way, 
375  ;  return  to  Italy,  376  ;  on  relics, 
408;  relations  with  Columban,  452; 
with  Spain,  544  ;  with  Aries,  547  ; 
fear  of  Constantinople,  549 

Vilithusa,  458 

Villa  Massimi,  430 

Virgil  the  poet,  409,  456 

Virgilius  of  Aries,  547 


Virgin-birth  in  art,  464 

Virgins,  consecrated,  362,  169,  170 

Vitale,  San,  Ravenna,  523,  223 

Vitalis,  abbot,  435 

Voconius,  543 

Volaterranus,  402 

Votive  offerings,  vows,  523  ff.,  223,  224, 
225 

W 

Warnekrid,  434,  438 
Weights,  176,  177,  385 
Wilfrid  of  York,  545 
Winigild,  391 
Witchcraft,  500 


X 

Xystus  II.,  Pope,  427,  201,  429 
  Ill  ,  362,  378,  463,  468,  533 


Z 

Zeno,  St.,  424 
 the  writer,  464 

Zosimus,  Pope,  easily  imposed  upon,  465 
Zotto,  Lombard  duke,  435 


The  numerals  in  thick  type  refer  to  the  illustrations,  the  others  to  the  sections. 


END  OF  VOL.  Ill 


Printed  by  Ballantyne,  Hanson  &  Co. 
Edinburgh  6s  London 


Date  Due 

